Inter-prediction method and apparatus for same

ABSTRACT

An inter-prediction method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: deriving motion information of a current block; and generating a prediction block for the current block on the basis of the derived motion information. According to the present invention, computational complexity can be reduced and encoding efficiency can be improved.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/810,867filed on Nov. 13, 2017, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.15/337,309 filed on Oct. 28, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,854,248 issued onDec. 26, 2017, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.14/127,617 having a 371(c) date of Dec. 19, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No.9,532,042 issued on Dec. 27, 2016, which is a U.S. national stageapplication of International Application No. PCT/KR2012/004882 filed onJun. 20, 2012, which claims the benefit of Korean Patent ApplicationsNos. 10-2011-0060285, filed on Jun. 21, 2011, 10-2011-0065714, filed onJul. 1, 2011, 10-2011-0066173, filed on Jul. 4, 2011, 10-2012-0005948,filed on Jan. 18, 2012, and 10-2012-0066191, filed on Jun. 20, 2012, inthe Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosures of whichare incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to image processing, and moreparticularly, to inter prediction method and apparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, in accordance with the expansion of broadcasting serviceshaving high definition (HD) resolution in the country and around theworld, many users have been accustomed to a high resolution anddefinition image, such that many organizations have attempted to developthe next-generation image devices. In addition, as the interest in HDTVand ultra high definition (UHD) having a resolution four times higherthan that of HDTV have increased, a compression technology for ahigher-resolution and higher-definition image has been demanded.

For image compression, an inter prediction technology of predictingpixel values included in a current picture from a picture before and/orafter the current picture, an intra prediction technology of predictingpixel values included in a current picture using pixel information inthe current picture, an entropy encoding technology of allocating ashort code to symbols having a high appearance frequency and a long codeto symbols having a low appearance frequency, or the like, may be used.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

The present invention provides image encoding method and apparatuscapable of reducing calculation complexity and improving encodingefficiency.

The present invention provides image decoding method and apparatuscapable of reducing calculation complexity and improving encodingefficiency.

The present invention provides inter prediction method and apparatuscapable of reducing calculation complexity and improving encodingefficiency.

The present invention provides merge candidate determining method andapparatus capable of reducing calculation complexity and improvingencoding efficiency.

The present invention provides motion information determining method andapparatus capable of reducing calculation complexity and improvingencoding efficiency.

The present invention provided temporal motion information derivingmethod and apparatus capable of reducing calculation complexity andimproving encoding efficiency.

Technical Solution

In an aspect, an inter prediction method is provided. The interprediction method includes: deriving motion information of a currentblock; and generating a prediction block for the current block based onthe derived motion information; wherein the derived motion informationincludes both of L0 motion information and L1 motion information, in thegenerating of the prediction block, one of uni-prediction andbi-direction is optionally performed, and the uni-prediction isprediction performed based on the L0 motion information and thebi-prediction is prediction performed based on the L0 motion informationand the L1 motion information.

The L0 motion information may include an L0 motion vector and an L0reference picture number, the L0 reference picture number may be anumber assigned to an L0 reference picture according to a picture ordercount (POC) order, the L1 motion information may include an L1 motionvector and an L1 reference picture number, and the L1 reference picturenumber may be a number assigned to an L1 reference picture according tothe POC order, and in the generating of the prediction block, one of theuni-prediction and the bi-prediction may be optionally performedaccording to whether the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation are the same, and when the L0 motion vector and the L1motion vector are the same and the L0 reference picture number and theL1 reference picture number are the same, it may be determined that theL0 motion information and the L1 motion information are the same.

When the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information are thesame, in the generating of the prediction block, the prediction blockmay be generated by performing the L0 motion compensation on the currentblock based on the L0 motion information.

When the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information are not thesame, the generating of the prediction block may further include:generating an L0 motion compensated block by performing L0 motioncompensation on the current block based on the L0 motion information;generating an L1 motion compensated block by performing L1 motioncompensation on the current block based on the L1 motion information;and generating the prediction block by performing a weighting average onthe L0 motion compensated block and the L1 motion compensated block.

When the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information are thesame, the generating of the prediction block may include: generating anL0 motion compensated block by performing the L0 motion compensation onthe current block based on the L0 reference picture; generating an L1motion compensated block by performing the L1 motion compensation on thecurrent block based on a reference picture that is not the same as theL1 reference picture among reference pictures configuring an L1reference picture list; and generating the prediction block byperforming a weighting average on the L0 motion compensated block andthe L1 motion compensated block.

When the number of reference pictures included in the L1 referencepicture list is one or less, in the generating of the prediction block,the prediction block may be generated by performing L0 motioncompensation on the current block based on the L0 motion information.

The inter prediction method may further includes: determining whetherdefault weighting prediction is applied to the current block ornon-default weighting prediction is applied thereto; in the generatingof the prediction block, one of the default weighting prediction and thenon-default weighting prediction is optionally performed according tothe determination results.

Whether the default weighting prediction is applied to the current blockor the non-default weighting prediction is applied thereto may beindicated by a weighting prediction index.

In the generating of the prediction block, one of the uni-prediction andthe bi-prediction may be optionally performed according to whether asize of the current block is smaller than a predetermined size

The inter prediction method may further include: when the size of thecurrent block is smaller than 8×8, setting only the L0 motioninformation among the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation as the motion information of the current block, wherein inthe generating of the prediction block, the prediction block may begenerated by performing L0 motion compensation on the current blockbased on the L0 motion information.

In another aspect, an inter prediction apparatus is provided. The interprediction apparatus includes: a motion estimator configured to derivemotion information of a current block; and a motion compensatorconfigured to generate a prediction block for the current block based onthe derived motion information, wherein the derived motion informationincludes both of L0 motion information and L1 motion information, themotion compensator optionally performs one of uni-prediction andbi-direction, and the uni-prediction is prediction performed based onthe L0 motion information and the bi-prediction is prediction performedbased on the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information.

In another aspect, an image decoding method is provided. The imagedecoding method includes: deriving motion information of a currentblock; generating a prediction block for the current block based on thederived motion information; and generating a reconstructed block for thecurrent block based on the generated prediction block, wherein thederived motion information includes both of L0 motion information and L1motion information, in the generating of the prediction block, one ofuni-prediction and bi-direction is optionally performed, and theuni-prediction is prediction performed based on the L0 motioninformation and the bi-prediction is prediction performed based on theL0 motion information and the L1 motion information.

The L0 motion information may include an L0 motion vector and an L0reference picture number, the L0 reference picture number may be anumber assigned to an L0 reference picture according to a picture ordercount (POC) order, the L1 motion information may include an L1 motionvector and an L1 reference picture number, and the L1 reference picturenumber may be a number assigned to an L1 reference picture according tothe POC order, and in the generating of the prediction block, one of theuni-prediction and the bi-prediction may be optionally performedaccording to whether the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation are the same, and when the L0 motion vector and the L1motion vector are the same and the L0 reference picture number and theL1 reference picture number are the same, it may be determined that theL0 motion information and the L1 motion information are the same.

When the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information are thesame, in the generating of the prediction block, the prediction blockmay be generated by performing the L0 motion compensation on the currentblock based on the L0 motion information.

When the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information are not thesame, the generating of the prediction block may further include:generating an L0 motion compensated block by performing L0 motioncompensation on the current block based on the L0 motion information;generating an L1 motion compensated block by performing L1 motioncompensation on the current block based on the L1 motion information;and generating the prediction block by performing a weighting average onthe L0 motion compensated block and the L1 motion compensated block.

The image decoding method may further include: determining whetherdefault weighting prediction is applied to the current block ornon-default weighting prediction is applied thereto; in the generatingof the prediction block, one of the default weighting prediction and thenon-default weighting prediction is optionally performed according tothe determination results.

Whether the default weighting prediction is applied to the current blockor the non-default weighting prediction is applied thereto may beindicated by a weighting prediction index.

Advantageous Effects

According to the image encoding method of the exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention, it is possible to reduce the calculationcomplexity and improve the encoding efficiency.

According to the image decoding method of the exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention, it is possible to reduce the calculationcomplexity and improve the encoding efficiency.

According to the inter prediction method of the exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention, it is possible to reduce the calculationcomplexity and improve the encoding efficiency.

According to the merge candidate determining method of the exemplaryembodiments of the present invention, it is possible to reduce thecalculation complexity and improve the encoding efficiency.

According to the motion information determining method of the exemplaryembodiments of the present invention, it is possible to reduce thecalculation complexity and improve the encoding efficiency.

According to the temporal motion information deriving method of theexemplary embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to reducethe calculation complexity and improve the encoding efficiency.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image encodingapparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image decodingapparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart schematically showing an inter prediction methodaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the inter prediction methodaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention whenbidirectional prediction is applied.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing an inter prediction methodaccording to another exemplary embodiment of present invention whenbidirectional prediction is applied.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing motion information of theencoded image according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an inter predictionmethod according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an inter predictionmethod according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing default weighting prediction accordingto an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart schematically showing an inter prediction methodaccording to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing inter prediction according to anexemplary embodiment of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an interprediction method according to another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an interprediction method according to another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing default weighting prediction accordingto an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart schematically showing a merge candidatedetermining method according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention when a merge is applied to a current block.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a merge candidate determining processaccording to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart schematically showing a temporal motioninformation deriving method according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a temporal motion information derivingprocess according to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart schematically showing a temporal motioninformation deriving method of a current block according to anotherexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a temporal motion information derivingprocess according to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart schematically showing a collocated (col) picturedetermining method according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention when the temporal motion information of the current block isderived.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a col picture determining processaccording to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart schematically showing a method for determiningmotion information of a current block according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention when all the blocks used to derivethe motion information candidates do not have the motion information.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a motion information determining processaccording to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 23.

FIG. 25 is a flow chart schematically showing a method for determiningmotion information of a current block according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention when all the blocks used to derivethe motion information candidates do not have the motion information.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a motion information determining processaccording to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 25.

MODE FOR INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Indescribing exemplary embodiments of the present invention, well-knownfunctions or constructions will not be described in detail since theymay unnecessarily obscure the understanding of the present invention.

It will be understood that when an element is simply referred to asbeing ‘connected to’ or ‘coupled to’ another element without being‘directly connected to’ or ‘directly coupled to’ another element in thepresent description, it may be ‘directly connected to’ or ‘directlycoupled to’ another element or be connected to or coupled to anotherelement, having the other element intervening therebetween. Further, inthe present invention, “comprising” a specific configuration will beunderstood that additional configuration may also be included in theembodiments or the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

Terms used in the specification, ‘first’, ‘second’, etc. can be used todescribe various components, but the components are not to be construedas being limited to the terms. The terms are only used to differentiateone component from other components. For example, the ‘first’ componentmay be named the ‘second’ component and the ‘second’ component may alsobe similarly named the ‘first’ component, without departing from thescope of the present invention.

Furthermore, constitutional parts shown in the embodiments of thepresent invention are independently shown so as to represent differentcharacteristic functions. Thus, it does not mean that eachconstitutional part is constituted in a constitutional unit of separatedhardware or one software. In other words, each constitutional partincludes each of enumerated constitutional parts for convenience ofexplanation. Thus, at least two constitutional parts of eachconstitutional part may be combined to form one constitutional part orone constitutional part may be divided into a plurality ofconstitutional parts to perform each function. The embodiment where eachconstitutional part is combined and the embodiment where oneconstitutional part is divided are also included in the scope of thepresent invention, if not departing from the essence of the presentinvention.

In addition, some of constituents may not be indispensable constituentsperforming essential functions of the present invention but be selectiveconstituents improving only performance thereof. The present inventionmay be implemented by including only the indispensable constitutionalparts for implementing the essence of the present invention except theconstituents used in improving performance. The structure including onlythe indispensable constituents except the selective constituents used inimproving only performance is also included in the scope of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image encodingapparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the image encoding apparatus 100 includes a motionestimator 111, a motion compensator 112, an intra predictor 120, aswitch 115, a subtractor 125, a transformer 130, a quantizer 140, anentropy encoder 150, a dequantizer 160, an inverse transformer 170, anadder 175, a filter unit 180, and a reference picture buffer 190.

The image encoding apparatus 100 may perform encoding on input picturesin an intra-mode or an inter-mode and output bit streams. The intraprediction means intra-picture prediction and the inter prediction meansinter-picture prediction. In the case of the intra mode, the switch 115may be switched to intra, and in the case of the inter mode, the switch115 may be switched to inter. The image encoding apparatus 100 maygenerate a prediction block for an input block of the input pictures andthen encode a residual between the input block and the prediction block.

In the case of the intra mode, the intra predictor 120 may performspatial prediction using pixel values of blocks encoded in advancearound a current block to generate the prediction block.

In the case of the inter mode, the motion estimator 111 may search aregion optimally matched with the input block in reference picturesstored in the reference picture buffer 190 in a motion estimationprocess to obtain a motion vector. The motion compensator 112 mayperform motion compensation using the motion vector to generate theprediction block.

The subtractor 125 may generate a residual block by the residual betweenthe input block and the generated prediction block. The transformer 130may perform transform on the residual block to output transformcoefficients. Further, the quantizer 140 may quantize the inputtransform coefficient according to quantization parameters to output aquantized coefficient.

The entropy coding unit 150 may perform entropy coding based on values(for example, quantized coefficients) calculated in the quantizer 140and/or coding parameter values, or the like, calculated in the codingprocess to output bit streams.

When the entropy encoding is applied, symbols are represented byallocating a small number of bits to symbols having high generationprobability and allocating a large number of bits to symbols having lowgeneration probability, thereby making it possible to reduce a size ofbit streams for the encoding target symbols. Therefore, the compressionperformance of the image encoding may be improved through the entropyencoding. The entropy encoder 150 may use an encoding method such asexponential golomb, context-adaptive variable length coding (CAVLC),context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC), or the like, for theentropy encoding.

Since the image encoding apparatus according to the exemplary embodimentof FIG. 1 performs inter prediction encoding, that is, inter-frameprediction encoding, a current encoded picture needs to be decoded andstored in order to be used as reference pictures. Therefore, thequantized coefficient is dequantized in the dequantizer 160 andinversely transformed in the inverse transformer 170. The dequantizedand inversely transformed coefficient is added to the prediction blockthrough the adder 175, such that a reconstructed block is generated.

The reconstructed block passes through the filter unit 180 and thefilter unit 180 may apply at least one of a deblocking filter, a sampleadaptive offset (SAO), and an adaptive loop filter (ALF) to areconstructed block or a reconstructed picture. The filter unit 180 mayalso be called an adaptive in-loop filter. A deblocking filter mayremove block distortion and/or blocking artifact that occur at aboundary between the blocks. The SAO may add an appropriate offset valueto a pixel value in order to compensate an encoding error. The ALF mayperform the filtering based on a comparison value between thereconstructed picture and the original picture and may also operate onlywhen a high efficiency is applied. The reconstructed block passingthrough the filter unit 180 may be stored in the reference picturebuffer 190.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image decodingapparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, an image decoding apparatus 200 includes an entropydecoder 210, a dequantizer 220, an inverse transformer 230, an intrapredictor 240, a motion compensator 250, an adder 255, a filter unit260, and a reference picture buffer 270.

The image decoding apparatus 200 may receive the bit streams output fromthe encoder to perform the decoding in the intra mode or the inter modeand output the reconstructed picture, that is, the reconstructedpicture. In the case of the intra mode, the switch may be switched tothe intra, and in the case of the inter mode, the switch may be switchedto the inter. The image decoding apparatus 200 may obtain a residualblock from the received bit streams, generate the prediction block, andthen add the residual block to the prediction block to generate thereconstructed block, that is, the reconstructed block.

The entropy decoder 210 may entropy-decode the input bit streamsaccording to the probability distribution to generate symbols includinga quantized coefficient type of symbols. The entropy decoding method issimilar to the above-mentioned entropy encoding method.

When the entropy decoding method is applied, symbols are represented byallocating a small number of bits to symbols having high generationprobability and allocating a large number of bits to symbols having lowgeneration probability, thereby making it possible to reduce a size ofbit streams for each symbol. Therefore, the image decoding compressionperformance may be improved through the entropy decoding method.

The quantized coefficients may be dequantized in the dequantizer 220 andbe inversely transformed in the inverse transformer 230. The quantizedcoefficients are dequantized/inversely transformed, such that theresidual block may be generated.

In the case of the intra mode, the intra predictor 240 may performspatial prediction using pixel values of blocks decoded in advancearound a current block to generate the prediction blocks. In the case ofthe inter mode, the motion compensator 250 may perform the motioncompensation by using the motion vector and the reference picturesstored in the reference picture buffer 270 to generate the predictionblock.

The residual block and the prediction block may be added to each otherthrough the adder 255 and the added block may pass through the filterunit 260. The filter unit 260 may apply at least one of the deblockingfilter, the SAO, and the ALF to the reconstructed block or thereconstructed picture. The filter unit 260 may output the reconstructedpictures, that is, the reconstructed picture. The reconstructed picturemay be stored in the reference picture buffer 270 to thereby be used forthe inter prediction.

Hereinafter, the block means a unit of the picture encoding anddecoding. At the time of the picture encoding and decoding, the encodingor decoding unit means the divided unit when the picture is divided andthen encoded or decoded. Therefore, the unit may be called a coding unit(CU), a prediction unit (PU), a transform unit (TU), a transform block,or the like. A single block may be subdivided into sub-blocks having asmaller size. In addition, in the specification, the “picture” may bereplaced with “frame”, “field”, and/or “slice” according to the context,which may be easily understood to a person skilled in the art to whichthe present invention pertains. For example, a P picture, a B picture,and a forward B picture to be described below may each be replaced witha P slice, a B slice, and a forward B slice according to the context.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart schematically showing an inter prediction methodaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, an encoder and a decoder may derive the motioninformation of the current block (S310).

In the inter mode, the encoder and the decoder may derive the motioninformation of the current block and perform inter prediction and/ormotion compensation based on the derived motion information. In thiscase, the encoder and the decoder may use the motion information of thereconstructed neighboring block and/or a collocated (col) blockcorresponding to the current block within the previously reconstructedreference pictures to improve the encoding/decoding efficiency. Here,the reconstructed neighboring blocks are blocks within the currentpicture that is encoded and/or decoded and reconstructed in advance andmay include blocks neighboring to the current block and/or blockslocated at external corners of the current block. In addition, theencoder and the decoder may determine a predetermined relative locationbased on blocks that are present at the same space location as thecurrent block within the reference pictures and may derive the col blockbased on the predetermined determined relative position (locations inand/or out the block present at the same space location as the currentblock).

Meanwhile, the motion information deriving method may be changedaccording to the prediction mode of the current block. The predictionmode used for the inter prediction may include an advanced motion vectorpredictor (AMVP), a merge, and the like.

For example, when the AMVP is applied, the encoder and the decoder mayuse the motion vectors of the reconstructed neighboring blocks and/orthe motion vector of the col block to generate the prediction motionvector candidate list. That is, the motion vectors of the reconstructedneighboring blocks and/or the motion vector of the col block may be usedas the prediction motion vector candidates. The encoder may transmit aprediction motion vector index indicating an optimal prediction motionvector selected from the prediction motion vector candidates included inthe list to the decoder. In this case, the decoder may use theprediction motion vector index to select the prediction motion vector ofthe current block from the prediction motion vector candidates includedin the prediction motion vector candidate list.

The encoder may obtain a motion vector difference (MVD) between themotion vector and the prediction motion vector of the current block,encode the obtained motion vector difference, and transmit the encodeddifference to the decoder. In this case, the decoder may decode thereceived motion vector difference and derive the motion vector of thecurrent block by a sum of the decoded motion vector difference and theprediction motion vector.

As another example, when the merge is applied, the encoder and thedecoder may use the motion information of the reconstructed neighboringblocks and/or the motion information of the col block to generate themerge candidate list. That is, when the motion information of thereconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the col block is present, theencoder and the decoder may use the information as the merge candidatesfor the current block.

The encoder may select the merge candidates capable of providing theoptimal encoding efficiency as the motion information of the currentblock from the merge candidates included in the merge candidate list. Inthis case, the merge index indicating the selected merge candidates maybe transmitted to the decoder, while being included in the bit streams.The decoder may use the transmitted merge index to select one of themerge candidates included in the merge candidate lists and may determinethe selected merge candidates as the motion information of the currentblock. Therefore, when the merge mode is applied, the motion informationof the reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the col block may be usedas the motion information of the current block as it is.

In the above-mentioned AMVP and the merge mode, in order to derive themotion information of the current block, the motion information of thereconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the motion information of thecol block may be used. Hereinafter, in exemplary embodiments to bedescribed below, the motion information derived from the reconstructedneighboring blocks may be referred to as the spatial motion informationand the motion information derived from the col block may be referred toas the temporal motion information. For example, the motion vectorderived from the reconstructed neighboring blocks may be referred to asthe spatial motion vector and the motion vector derived from the colblock may be referred to the temporal motion vector.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the encoder and the decoder may perform themotion compensation on the current block based on the derived motioninformation to generate the prediction block of the current block(S320). Here, the prediction block may mean the motion compensated blockthat is generated by performing the motion compensation on the currentblock. In addition, the plurality of motion compensated blocks mayconfigure a single motion compensated picture. Therefore, the predictionblock in exemplary embodiments of the present invention to be describedbelow may be referred to as the ‘motion compensated block’ and/or the‘motion compensated picture’, which may be easily understood to a personskilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

Meanwhile, the picture subjected to the inter prediction may include theP picture and the B picture. The P picture may mean a picture that maybe subjected to unidirectional prediction using one reference pictureand the B picture may mean a picture that may be subjected to forward,reverse, or bidirectional prediction using one or more, for example, tworeference pictures. For example, in the B picture, the inter predictionmay be performed using a single forward reference picture (past picture)and a single reverse reference picture (future picture). In addition, inthe B picture, the prediction is performed using the two forwardreference pictures and the prediction may also be performed using thetwo reverse reference pictures.

Here, the reference pictures may be managed by a reference picture list.In the P picture, one reference picture is used and the referencepicture may be assigned to a reference picture list 0 (L0 or List0). Inthe B picture, two reference pictures are used and the two referencepictures may each be assigned to the reference picture list 0 and areference picture list 1 (L1 or List1). Hereinafter, the L0 referencepicture list may have the same meaning as the reference picture list 0and the L1 reference picture list may have the same meaning as thereference picture list 1.

Generally, the forward reference picture may be assigned to thereference picture list 0 and the reverse reference picture may beassigned to the reference picture list 1. However, a method forallocating reference pictures is not limited thereto, but the forwardreference picture may also be assigned to the reference picture list 1and the reverse reference picture may also be assigned to the referencepicture list 0. Hereinafter, the reference picture assigned to thereference picture list 0 is referred to as a L0 reference picture andthe reference picture assigned to the reference picture list 1 isreferred to as a L1 reference picture.

Generally, the reference pictures may be assigned to the referencepicture list in a descending order according to a reference picturenumber. Here, the reference picture number may mean a number assigned toeach reference picture in a picture order count (POC) order, wherein thePOC order may mean a display order and/or time order of pictures. Forexample, the two reference pictures having the same reference picturenumber may correspond to the same reference picture. The referencepictures assigned to the reference picture list may be rearranged by areference picture list reordering (RPLR) or memory management controloperation (MMCO) command.

As described above, in the P picture, the unidirectional predictionusing the single L0 reference picture may be performed and in the Bpicture, the forward, reverse, or bidirectional prediction using asingle L0 reference picture and a single L1 reference picture, that is,two reference pictures may be performed. The prediction using onereference picture may be referred to as uni-prediction and the tworeference pictures including the L0 reference picture and the L1reference picture may be referred to as bi-prediction.

The bi-prediction may be used as a concept including all of the forward,reverse, and bidirectional predictions, but in exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention to be described below, the prediction using thetwo reference pictures (L0 reference picture and L1 reference picture)may be referred to as the bidirectional prediction for convenience. Thatis, the bidirectional prediction in exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention to be described below may be referred to as the bi-predictionand may be understood as a concept including all the forward, reverse,and bidirectional predictions using the two reference pictures (the L0reference picture and the L1 reference picture).

In addition, even when the bi-prediction is performed, the forwardprediction or the reverse prediction may be performed, but in exemplaryembodiments of the present invention to be described below, theprediction using only one reference picture may be referred to as theunidirectional prediction for convenience. That is, in exemplaryembodiments of the present invention to be described below, theunidirectional prediction may mean the uni-prediction and may beunderstood as a concept including only the prediction using onereference picture. Hereinafter, the information indicating whether theunidirectional prediction (uni-prediction) is applied to the blockssubjected to the prediction or the bidirectional prediction(bi-prediction) is applied thereto is referred to as predictiondirection information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the inter prediction methodaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention when thebidirectional prediction is applied.

As described above, the encoder and the decoder may perform theunidirectional prediction and the bidirectional prediction at the timeof the inter prediction. When the bidirectional prediction is applied,each block subjected to the prediction may have two reference pictures(the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture). In this case,each block subjected to the bidirectional prediction may have two motioninformation. Here, the motion information may include the referencepicture number, the motion vectors, and the like.

When the bidirectional prediction is performed, the encoder and thedecoder each may select one reference picture from the reference picturelist 0 and the reference picture list 1 and use the selected referencepicture for prediction. That is, the two reference pictures includingthe L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture may be used forthe bidirectional prediction. Hereinafter, the motion informationcorresponding to the L0 reference picture may be referred to as the L0motion information and the motion information corresponding to the L1reference picture may be referred to as the L1 motion information.Further, the motion compensation using the L0 motion information may bereferred to as the L0 motion compensation and the motion compensationusing the L1 motion information may be referred to as the L1 motioncompensation.

Referring to FIG. 4, the encoder and the decoder perform L0 motioncompensation 410 on the current block using the L0 motion informationand the L0 reference picture list to generate the L0 motion compensatedblock. In addition, the encoder and the decoder use the L1 motioninformation and the L1 reference picture list to perform L1 motioncompensation 420, thereby generating the L1 motion compensated block. Inthis case, the L0 motion compensation 410 and L1 motion compensation 420processes may be performed independently from each other.

The encoder and the decoder may perform a weighting average 430 on theL0 motion compensated block and the L1 motion compensated block tofinally generate the single motion compensated block. For example, theweighting average 430 may be performed in a pixel unit within the L0motion compensated block and the L1 motion compensated block. In thiscase, the finally generated single motion compensated block maycorrespond to the prediction block of the current block.

Hereinafter, the motion compensation applied at the time of thebidirectional prediction may be referred to as the bidirectional motioncompensation. In connection with this, the motion compensation appliedat the time of the unidirectional prediction may be referred to as theunidirectional motion compensation.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing an inter prediction methodaccording to another exemplary embodiment of present invention whenbidirectional prediction is applied.

At the time of the bidirectional motion compensation, rounding error mayoccur. Therefore, the encoder and the decoder may perform a roundingcontrol so as to remove the rounding error.

Referring to FIG. 5, the encoder and the decoder may perform using ahigh accuracy (HA) pixel interpolation filter (IF) to the motioncompensation so as to remove the rounding error. When the high accuracypixel interpolation method or the high accuracy motion compensationmethod is applied, the encoder and the decoder may increase a bit depthof a picture before the motion compensation is performed. Finally, whenthe weighting average is performed, the bit depth of the picture may bereduced again. In addition, the encoder and the decoder may perform ahigh accuracy (HA) weighting average on the L0 motion compensated blockand the L1 motion compensated block to finally generate the singlemotion compensated block.

As described above, when a rounding control process is applied, adifference in the motion compensation method between the unidirectionalmotion compensation and the bidirectional motion compensation may alsooccur.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing motion information of theencoded picture according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 6 shows the plurality of blocks configuring the encodedpicture and the motion information of each of the plurality of blocks.

The encoder and the decoder may use the forward B picture so as toincrease the inter prediction efficiency under low delay applicationenvironment. Here, the forward B picture may mean the B picture to whichonly the forward prediction is subjected. When the forward B picture isused, each block to which the prediction is subjected may have twomotion information (the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation). Generally, in the forward B picture, the L0 referencepicture list and the L1 reference picture list may be identically set.Hereinafter, in the specification, when the forward B picture is used,it is assumed that the L0 reference picture list and the L1 referencepicture list are the same.

The decoder may also directly determine whether the current picture isthe forward B picture based on the L0 reference picture list and the L1reference picture list, but may also determine whether the currentpicture is the forward B picture based on the information transmittedfrom the encoder. For example, the encoder may encode a flag indicatingwhether the L0 reference picture list and the L1 reference picture listare the same as each other and transmit the encoded flag to the decoder.In this case, the decoder may receive and decode the flag and then,determine whether the current picture is the forward B picture based onthe decoded flag. As another example, the encoder may transmit an NALunit type value or a slice type value corresponding to the forward Bpicture to the decoder and the decoder may receive the value anddetermine whether the current picture is the forward B picture based onthe received value.

The picture shown in FIG. 6 is the picture encoded using the forward Bpicture. Therefore, each block within the encoded picture may have amaximum of two motion information. Here, the motion information mayinclude the reference picture number, the motion vectors, and the like.Referring to FIG. 6, among the blocks having the two motion information,the block in which the L0 motion information (for example, the referencepicture number, the motion vectors) and the L1 motion information (forexample, the reference picture number and the motion vectors) are thesame may be present in plural.

In the forward B picture, the block in which the L0 motion information(for example, the reference picture number, the motion vectors) and theL1 motion information (for example, the reference picture number, themotion vectors) are the same may occur by the temporal motioninformation deriving method. As described above, the temporal motioninformation may be derived from the motion information of the col blockcorresponding to the current block within the previously reconstructedreference pictures. For example, when the L0 temporal motion informationof the current block is derived, the encoder and the decoder may use theL0 motion information of the col block corresponding to the currentblock within the reference pictures. However, when the L0 motioninformation is not present in the col block, the encoder and the decodermay use the L1 motion information of the col block as the L0 temporalmotion information of the current block. On the other hand, when the L1temporal motion information of the current block is derived, the encoderand the decoder may use the L1 motion information of the col blockcorresponding to the current block within the reference pictures.However, when the L1 motion information is not present in the col block,the encoder and the decoder may use the L0 motion information of the colblock as the L1 temporal motion information of the current block. As theresult of the process performance as described above, the phenomenon inwhich the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information of thecurrent block are the same may occur.

Further, when the block in which the L0 motion information and the L1motion information are the same is generated, the block may affectblocks encoded later. For example, when the merge is applied, the motioninformation (the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information) ofthe reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the col block may be used asthe motion information of the current block as it is. Therefore, whenthe block in which the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation are the same is generated, other blocks in which the L0motion information and the L1 motion information are the same may begenerated more.

When the motion compensation is performed on the block in which the L0motion information and the L1 motion information are the same, the sameprocess may be repeatedly performed twice in the single block. Sincethis is very inefficient in terms of the encoding, the inter predictionmethod and/or the motion compensation method capable of reducing thecalculation complexity and improving the encoding efficiency by solvingthe above-mentioned problem may be provided. For example, when the L0motion information (for example, the reference picture number and themotion vectors) and the L1 motion information (for example, thereference picture number and the motion vectors) are the same, theencoder and the decoder may perform the motion compensation process onceto reduce the calculation complexity.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an inter predictionmethod according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 7, it is assumed that the current block has two motioninformation (the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information).When the L0 motion information (the reference picture number and themotion vectors) and the L1 motion information (the reference picturenumber and the motion vectors) are the same, the encoder and the decodermay perform the unidirectional motion compensation process on thecurrent block to reduce the calculation complexity.

Referring to FIG. 7, it may be determined whether the L0 motioninformation (the reference picture number and the motion vectors) andthe L1 motion information (the reference picture number and the motionvectors) are the same in the motion information determining process 710.The motion compensation process may be optionally performed according tothe determination result. For example, when the L0 reference picture andthe L1 reference picture are the same and the L0 motion vector and theL1 motion vector are not the same, the encoder and the decoder mayperform a unidirectional motion compensation process 720. Otherwise, theencoder and the decoder may perform a bidirectional motion compensationprocess 730.

In the unidirectional motion compensation process 720, the encoder andthe decoder may perform the L0 motion compensation on the current blockusing the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information acquiredfrom the reference picture buffer. The encoder and the decoder mayperform the L0 motion compensation to generate the L0 motion compensatedblock. In this case, the L0 motion compensated block may correspond tothe prediction block of the current block.

In the bidirectional motion compensation process 730, the encoder andthe decoder may perform the L0 motion compensation on the current blockusing the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information acquiredfrom the reference picture buffer to generate the L0 motion compensatedblock. Further, the encoder and the decoder may perform the L1 motioncompensation on the current block using the L1 reference picture and theL1 motion information acquired from the reference picture buffer togenerate the L1 motion compensated block.

When the bidirectional motion compensation process 730 is applied, theencoder and the decoder may perform the weighting average on the L0motion compensated block and the L1 motion compensated block to finallygenerate the single motion compensated block. For example, the weightingaverage may be performed in a pixel unit and may also be formed for, forexample, any pixel within the L0 motion compensated block and the pixelwithin the L1 motion compensated block corresponding thereto. In thiscase, the finally generated single motion compensated block maycorrespond to the prediction block of the current block.

In the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments of the present invention,since the final prediction block is generated by the weighting average,the above-mentioned inter prediction method may be referred to as theweighting prediction. Hereinafter, as shown in FIG. 7, the weight thatis applied as the default and basically applied in the weighting averageprocess is referred to as the “default weight”. It may be estimated thatthe prediction to which only the default weight is applied is not theweighting prediction, but in the specification, similar to ‘non-defaultweighting prediction’ to which the weight other than the default weightis separately or additionally applied, the inter prediction to whichonly the default weight is applied is referred to as the weightingprediction. However, in order to be differentiate from the non-defaultweighting prediction (for example, the weighting prediction of FIG. 8 tobe described below), the weighting prediction to which only the defaultweight is applied is referred to as ‘default weighting prediction’.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an inter predictionmethod according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 8, it is assumed that the current block has two motioninformation (the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information).In FIG. 7, the above-mentioned inter prediction method may beidentically applied to the non-default weighting prediction as shown inthe exemplary embodiment of FIG. 8, in addition to the default weightingprediction. When the L0 motion information (the reference picture numberand the motion vectors) and the L1 motion information (the referencepicture number and the motion vectors) are the same, the encoder and thedecoder may perform the unidirectional motion compensation process onthe current block to reduce the calculation complexity.

Referring to FIG. 8, the encoder and the decoder may determine whetherthe non-default weighting prediction is applied for the current block orthe default weighting prediction is applied for the current block (810).For example, this may be indicated by the weighting prediction index.The detailed exemplary embodiment of the present invention of theweighting prediction index will be described below.

When the non-default weighting prediction is used, the encoder and thedecoder may apply the weight other than the default weight to the L0motion compensated block and/or the L1 motion compensated block at thetime of performing the motion compensation. Hereinafter, the weightother than the default weight is referred to as the non-default weight.

For example, when the non-default weighting prediction is used, it maybe determined whether the L0 motion information (the reference picturenumber and the motion vectors) and the L1 motion information (thereference picture number and the motion vectors) are the same in themotion information determining process 820. The motion compensationprocess may be optionally performed according to the determinationresult. For example, when the L0 reference picture and the L1 referencepicture are the same and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vectorare the same, the encoder and the decoder may perform a unidirectionalmotion compensation process 830. Otherwise, the encoder and the decodermay perform a bidirectional motion compensation process 840.

In the unidirectional motion compensation process 830, the encoder andthe decoder may perform the L0 motion compensation on the current blockusing the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information acquiredfrom the reference picture buffer. In this case, the encoder and thedecoder may apply the predetermined non-default weight and/or apredetermined offset to the L0 motion compensated block to generate thefinal prediction block. The L0 motion compensation to which thepredetermined non-default weight and/or the predetermined offset areapplied may also be referred to as the L0 weighting motion compensation.Similarly, the L1 motion compensation to which the predeterminednon-default weight and/or the predetermined offset are applied may alsobe referred to as the L1 weighting motion compensation.

When the non-default weighting prediction is used, the method forperforming the unidirectional motion compensation process 830 may bevariously defined. Hereinafter, in exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention to be described below, the non-default weight corresponding toLX motion information (X is 0 or 1) is referred to as an LX weight andan offset corresponding to the LX motion information is referred to asan LX offset.

As described above, in the unidirectional motion compensation process830, the encoder and the decoder may perform the L0 motion compensationon the current block using the L0 reference picture and the L0 motioninformation acquired from the reference picture buffer. The encoder andthe decoder may perform the L0 motion compensation on the current blockto generate the L0 motion compensated block. In this case, for example,the encoder and the decoder may apply the L0 weight to the L0 motioncompensated block (and/or each pixel within the block) and adds the L0offset thereto to generate the final prediction block. As anotherexample, the encoder and the decoder multiply values obtained by addingthe L0 weight and the L1 weight to the L0 motion compensated block(and/or each pixel within the block), add the L0 offset and L1 offsetvalues, and then, obtain the average value therefor, thereby generatingthe final prediction block. As another example, the encoder and thedecoder may multiply the L0 weight by the L0 motion compensated block(and/or each pixel within the block) and adds the average value of theL0 offset and the L1 offset to generate the final prediction block. Themethod for performing the unidirectional motion compensation 830 is notlimited to the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments and may bevariously defined according to implementations and/or demands.

When the non-default weighting prediction is used, both of the L0weighting motion compensation process and the L1 weighting motioncompensation process may be performed in the bidirectional motioncompensation process 840. In the L0 weighting motion compensationprocess, the encoder and the decoder may generate the L0 motioncompensated block using the L0 reference picture and the L0 motioninformation that are acquired from the reference picture buffer. In thiscase, the encoder and the decoder may apply the L0 weight to the L0motion compensated block to generate the L0 weighting motion compensatedblock. In addition, in the L1 weighting motion compensation process, theencoder and the decoder may generate the L1 motion compensated blockusing the L1 reference picture and the L1 motion information that areacquired from the reference picture buffer. In this case, the encoderand the decoder may apply the L1 weight to the L1 motion compensatedblock to generate the L1 weighting motion compensated block.

When the bidirectional motion compensation process 840 is applied in thenon-default weighting prediction, the encoder and the decoder mayperform the weighting average based on the L0 weighting motioncompensated block, the L0 offset, the L1 weighting motion compensatedblock, and the L1 offset to finally generate the single motioncompensated block. For example, the weighting average may be performedin a pixel unit within the L0 motion compensated block and the L1 motioncompensated block. In this case, the finally generated single motioncompensated block may correspond to the prediction block of the currentblock.

Although the above-mentioned bidirectional motion compensation process840 described that the L0 weight is applied in the L0 motioncompensation process and the L1 weight is applied in the L1 motioncompensation process, the bidirectional motion compensation process 840is not limited to the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention. For example, the L0 weight and the L1 weight may alsobe applied to the L0 motion compensated block and the L1 motioncompensated block in the weighting average process other than the L0 andL1 motion compensation processes.

When the default weighting prediction is used, the general motioncompensation process as described in the exemplary embodiments of FIG. 7as described above may be performed.

For example, when the default weighting prediction is used, it may bedetermined whether the L0 motion information (the reference picturenumber and the motion vectors) and the L1 motion information (thereference picture number and the motion vectors) are the same in themotion information determining process 850. The motion compensationprocess may be optionally performed according to the determinationresult. For example, when the L0 reference picture and the L1 referencepicture are the same and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vectorare the same, the encoder and the decoder may perform a unidirectionalmotion compensation process 860. Otherwise, the encoder and the decodermay perform a bidirectional motion compensation process 870.

In the unidirectional motion compensation process 860, the encoder andthe decoder may perform the L0 motion compensation on the current blockusing the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information acquiredfrom the reference picture buffer. The encoder and the decoder mayperform the L0 motion compensation to generate the L0 motion compensatedblock. In this case, the L0 motion compensated block may correspond tothe prediction block of the current block.

In the bidirectional motion compensation process 870, the encoder andthe decoder may perform the L0 motion compensation on the current blockusing the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information acquiredfrom the reference picture buffer to generate the L0 motion compensatedblock. Further, the encoder and the decoder may perform the L1 motioncompensation on the current block using the L1 reference picture and theL1 motion information acquired from the reference picture buffer togenerate the L1 motion compensated block.

When the bidirectional motion compensation process 870 is applied, theencoder and the decoder may perform the weighting average on the L0motion compensated block and the L1 motion compensated block to finallygenerate the single motion compensated block. For example, the weightingaverage may be performed in a pixel unit and may also be performed for,for example, any pixel within the L0 motion compensated block and thepixel within the L1 motion compensated block corresponding thereto. Inthis case, the finally generated single motion compensated block maycorrespond to the prediction block of the current block.

Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention as describedabove describe that the unidirectional motion compensation process isperformed when the L0 motion information (the reference picture numberand the motion vector) and the L1 motion information (the referencepicture number and the motion vector) are the same, the presentinvention is not limited thereto. For example, when the L0 motioninformation and the L1 motion information are the same, the encoder andthe decoder may also perform the bidirectional motion compensation.

Hereinafter, in terms of the decoder, the exemplary embodiments of theinter prediction and/or motion compensation process according to theexemplary embodiments of FIGS. 7 and 8 will be described.

As described above, whether the non-default weighting prediction isapplied to the current block or the default weighting prediction isapplied thereto may be indicated by the weighting prediction index. Inexemplary embodiments of the present invention to be described below,weighted_bipred_idc may mean the weighting prediction index. Forexample, when a weighted_bipred_idc value is ‘0’, the default weightingprediction for the current block may be performed. Further, when theweighted_bipred_idc value is ‘1’, explicit non-default weightingprediction may be performed and when the weighted_bipred_idc value is‘2’, implicit non-default weighting prediction may be performed.

Further, in Clip1H used in exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention to be described below, H may be replaced with Y in the case ofa luma component signal and H may be replaced with C in the case of achroma component signal. Clip1Y, Clip1C, and Clip3 may each have ameaning as represented by the following Equation 1.

$\begin{matrix}{{{{Clip}\; 1\; {Y(x)}} = {{Clip}\; 3( {0,{( {1{BitDepthY}} )\mspace{14mu} 1},x} )}}{{{Clip}\; 1\; {C(x)}} = {{Clip}\; 3( {0,{( {1{BitDepthC}} )\mspace{14mu} 1},x} )}}{{{Clip}\; 3( {x,y,z} )} = \{ \begin{matrix}{x;} & {z < x} \\{y;} & {z > y} \\{z;} & {otherwise}\end{matrix} }} & \lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1} \rbrack\end{matrix}$

In the above Equation 1, the BitDepthY may represent a bit depth of theluma component. Further, the BitDepthC may represent a bit depth of thechroma component.

In addition, in the exemplary embodiments of the present invention to bedescribed below, variable shift 1 may have, for example, a value of14-bitDepth and variable shift2 may have, for example, a value of15-bitDepth. In addition, variable offset1 may have a value of1<<(shift1−1) and variable offset2 may have a value of 1<<(shift2−1).

1. Embodiment of Default Weighting Sample Prediction

Hereinafter, in terms of the decoder, an embodiment of the defaultweighting prediction (referred to as the default weighting sampleprediction) according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7 will bedescribed below. The default weighting prediction process may beperformed when the above-mentioned weighted_bipred_idc value is ‘0’. Inaddition, in exemplary embodiments of the present invention to bedescribed below, the ‘pixel’ may be referred to as the ‘sample’.

The input for the default weighting prediction process may includelocations xB and yB of a leftmost sample of a current PU based on aleftmost sample of a current CU, variables nPSW and nPSH indicating awidth and a height of the current PU, an L0 motion vector mvL0 for asample, an L1 motion vector mvL1 for a sample, an L0 reference pictureindex refIdxL0, an L1 reference picture index refIdxL1, a flagpredFlagL0 indicating whether the L0 prediction is performed (whetherthe L0 reference picture list is used), a flat predFlagL1 indicatingwhether the L1 prediction is performed (whether the L1 reference picturelist is used), a bitDepth indicating the bit depth of the sample, andthe like. Here, the L0 reference picture index indicates an indexindicating the reference picture used for the inter prediction of thecurrent PU among the reference pictures included in the L0 referencepicture list and the L1 reference picture index may indicate an indexindicating the reference pictures used for the inter prediction of thecurrent PU among the reference pictures included in the L1 referencepicture list. In addition, the L0 prediction may mean the interprediction using the reference pictures selected from the L0 referencepicture list and the L1 prediction may mean the inter prediction usingthe reference pictures selected from the L1 reference picture list. Anoutput of the process may be a prediction sample value predSamples[x, y]within a prediction block having a (nPSW)×(nPSH) size.

The decoder may derive a predSamples[x, y] value as follows, based onmvL0, mvL1, refIdxL0, refIdxL1, PredFlagL0, PredFlagL1, and the like.

If the PredFlagL0 is 1 and the PredFlagL1 is 0, the decoder may performthe following process.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip3(0, (1<<bitDepth)−1, (predSamplesL0[x,y]+offset1)>>shift1)

Otherwise, if the PredFlagL0 is 0 and the PredFlagL1 is 1, the decodermay perform the following process.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip3(0, (1<<bitDepth)−1, (predSamplesL1[x,y]+offset1)>>shift1)

Otherwise, if the PredFlagL0 is 1 and the PredFlagL1 is 1, the motionvectors mvL0 and mvL1 are the same, and the RefPicOrderCnt (currPic,refIdxL00, L0) and RefPicOrderCnt (currPic, refIdxL1, L1) are the same(that is, if the L0 reference picture number and the L1 referencepicture number are the same), the decoder may perform the followingprocess.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip3(0, (1<<bitDepth)−1, (predSamplesL0[x,y]+offset1)>>shift1)

Otherwise, the decoder may perform the following process.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip3(0, (1<<bitDepth)−1, (predSamplesL0[x,y]+predSamplesL1[x, y]+offset2)>>shift2)

2. Embodiment (Method 1) of Non-Default Weighting Sample Prediction

Hereinafter, in terms of the decoder, an embodiment of the non-defaultweighting prediction (referred to as the non-default weighting sampleprediction) according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 8 will bedescribed below. The non-default weighting prediction process may beperformed when the above-mentioned weighted_bipred_idc value is not ‘0’.

The input for the non-default weighting prediction process may includelocations xB and yB of a leftmost sample of a current PU based on aleftmost sample of a current CU, variables nPSW and nPSH indicating awidth and a height of the current PU, an L0 motion vector mvL0 for asample, an L1 motion vector mvL1 for a sample, an L0 reference pictureindex refIdxL0, an L1 reference picture index refIdxL1, a flagpredFlagL0 indicating whether the L0 prediction is performed (whetherthe L0 reference picture list is used), a flag predFlagL1 indicatingwhether the L1 prediction is performed (whether the L1 reference picturelist is used), a bitDepth indicating the bit depth of the sample,weighting prediction variables log WDC, w0C, w1C, o0C, and 01C, and thelike. Here, C represents L in the case of the luma component, Cb in thecase of chroma Cb component, and Cr in the case of chroma Cr component.In addition, log WDC may represent a denominator of a weighting factor,w0C may represent an L0 weighting value, w1C may represent the L1weighting value, o0C may represent the L0 offset value, and o1C mayrepresent the L1 offset value. An output of the process may be aprediction sample value predSamples[x, y] within a prediction blockhaving a (nPSW)×(nPSH) size.

The decoder may derive a predSamples[x, y] value as follows, based onmvL0, mvL1, refIdxL0, refIdxL1, PredFlagL0, PredFlagL1, and the like.

If the PredFlagL0 is 1 and the PredFlagL1 is 0, the decoder may performthe following process.

For example, when the log WDC value is 1 or more, the predSamples[x, y]value may be derived as follows.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(((predSamplesL0[x, y] *w0C+₂ ^(log WDC−1))>>logWDC)+o0C)

As another example, when the log WDC value is less than 1, thepredSamples[x, y] value may be derived as follows.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(predSamplesL0[x, y] *w0C+o0C)

Otherwise, if the PredFlagL0 is 0 and the PredFlagL1 is 1, the decodermay perform the following process.

For example, when the log WDC value is 1 or more, the predSamples[x, y]value may be derived as follows.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(((predSamplesL1[x, y] *w1C+₂ ^(log WDC−1))>>logWDC)+o1C)

As another example, when the log WDC value is less than 1, thepredSamples[x, y] value may be derived as follows.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(predSamplesL1[x, y] *w1C+o1C)

Otherwise, if the PredFlagL0 is 1 and the PredFlagL1 is 1, the motionvectors mvL0 and mvL1 are the same, and the RefPicOrderCnt (currPic,refIdxL0, L0) and RefPicOrderCnt (currPic, refIdxL1, L1) are the same(that is, if the L0 reference picture number and the L1 referencepicture number are the same), the decoder may perform the followingprocess.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(((predSamplesL0[x, y]*(w0C+w1C)+2^(log WDC))>>(log WDC+1))+((o0C+o1C+1)>>1))

Otherwise, the decoder may perform the following process.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(((predSamplesL0[x, y] *w0C+predSamplesL1[x, y]*w1C+2^(log WDC))>>(log WDC+1))+((o0C+o1C+1)>>1))

3. Embodiment (Method 2) of Non-Default Weighting Sample Prediction

Hereinafter, in terms of the decoder, another embodiment of thenon-default weighting prediction (referred to as the non-defaultweighting sample prediction) according to the exemplary embodiment ofFIG. 8 will be described below. The non-default weighting predictionprocess may be performed when the above-mentioned weighted_bipred_idcvalue is not ‘0’.

The input for the non-default weighting prediction process may includelocations xB and yB of a leftmost sample of a current PU based on aleftmost sample of a current CU, variables nPSW and nPSH indicating awidth and a height of the current PU, an L0 motion vector mvL0 for asample, an L1 motion vector mvL1 for a sample, an L0 reference pictureindex refIdxL0, an L1 reference picture index refIdxL1, a flagpredFlagL0 indicating whether the L0 prediction is performed (whetherthe L0 reference picture list is used), a flag predFlagL1 indicatingwhether the L1 prediction is performed (whether the L1 reference picturelist is used), a bitDepth indicating the bit depth of the sample,weighting prediction variables log WDC, w0C, w1C, o0C, and 01C, and thelike. Here, C represents L in the case of the luma component, Cb in thecase of chroma Cb component, and Cr in the case of chroma Cr component.In addition, log WDC may represent a denominator of a weighting factor,w0C may represent an L0 weighting value, w1C may represent the L1weighting value, o0C may represent the L0 offset value, and o1C mayrepresent the L1 offset value. An output of the process may be aprediction sample value predSamples[x, y] within a prediction blockhaving a (nPSW)×(nPSH) size.

The decoder may derive a predSamples[x, y] value as follows, based onmvL0, mvL1, refIdxL0, refIdxL1, PredFlagL0, PredFlagL1, and the like.

If the PredFlagL0 is 1 and the PredFlagL1 is 0, the decoder may performthe following process.

For example, when the log WDC value is 1 or more, the predSamples[x, y]value may be derived as follows.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(((predSamplesL0[x, y] *w0C+2^(log WDC−1))>>logWDC)+o0C)

As another example, when the log WDC value is less than 1, thepredSamples[x, y] value may be derived as follows.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(predSamplesL0[x, y] *w0C+o0C)

Otherwise, if the PredFlagL0 is 0 and the PredFlagL1 is 1, the decodermay perform the following process.

For example, when the log WDC value is 1 or more, the predSamples[x, y]value may be derived as follows.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(((predSamplesL1[x, y] *w1C+2^(log WDC−1))>>logWDC)+o1C)

As another example, when the log WDC value is less than 1, thepredSamples[x, y] value may be derived as follows.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(predSamplesL1[x, y] *w1C+o1C)

Otherwise, if the PredFlagL0 is 1 and the PredFlagL1 is 1, the motionvectors mvL0 and mvL1 are the same, and the RefPicOrderCnt (currPic,refIdxL0, L0) and RefPicOrderCnt (currPic, refIdxL1, L1) are the same(that is, if the L0 reference picture number and the L1 referencepicture number are the same), the decoder may perform the followingprocess.

For example, when the log WDC value is 1 or more, the predSamples[x, y]value may be derived as follows.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(((predSamplesL0[x, y] *w0C+2^(log WDC−1))>>logWDC)+o0C)

As another example, when the log WDC value is less than 1, thepredSamples[x, y] value may be derived as follows.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(predSamplesL0[x, y] *w0C+o0C)

Otherwise, the decoder may perform the following process.

predSamples[x, y]=Clip1H(((predSamplesL0[x, y] *w0C+predSamplesL1[x, y]*w1C+2^(log WDC))>>(log WDC+1))+((o0C+o1C+1)>>1))

FIG. 9 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing default weighting prediction accordingto an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7.

The inter prediction apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment ofFIG. 9 receives the L0 motion information (the reference picture numberand the motion vector) and the L1 motion information (the referencepicture number and the motion vector) to generate the prediction blockfor the current block. The inter prediction apparatus may include amotion information determination unit 910, a unidirectional motioncompensation unit 920, and a bidirectional motion compensation unit 930.In this configuration, the unidirectional motion compensation unit 920may include an L0 motion compensator 925 and the bidirectional motioncompensation unit 930 may include an L0 motion compensator 933, an L1motion compensator 936, and a weighting averager 939.

In FIG. 9, it is assumed that the current block has two motioninformation (the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information).When the L0 motion information (the reference picture number and themotion vectors) and the L1 motion information (the reference picturenumber and the motion vectors) are the same, the inter predictionapparatus may perform the unidirectional motion compensation process onthe current block to reduce the calculation complexity.

Referring to FIG. 9, the motion information determination unit 910 maydetermine whether the L0 motion information (the reference picturenumber and the motion vectors) and the L1 motion information (thereference picture number and the motion vectors) are the same. Themotion compensation process may be optionally performed according to thedetermination result. For example, when the L0 reference picture and theL1 reference picture are the same and the L0 motion vector and the L1motion vector are the same, the inter prediction apparatus may performthe unidirectional motion compensation process by the unidirectionalmotion compensation unit 920. Otherwise, the inter prediction apparatusmay perform the bidirectional motion compensation process by thebidirectional motion compensation unit 930. In the unidirectional motioncompensation process, the unidirectional motion compensation unit 920receives the L0 motion information to perform the unidirectional motioncompensation and in the bidirectional motion compensation process, thebidirectional motion compensation unit 930 may receive the L0 motioninformation and the L1 motion information to perform the bidirectionalmotion compensation.

In the unidirectional motion compensation process, the L0 motioncompensator 925 may perform the L0 motion compensation on the currentblock based on the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information.The L0 motion compensator 925 may perform the L0 motion compensation togenerate the L0 motion compensated block. In this case, the L0 motioncompensated block may correspond to the prediction block of the currentblock.

In the bidirectional motion compensation process, the L0 motioncompensator 933 may perform the L0 motion compensation on the currentblock based on the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information togenerate the L0 motion compensated block. In addition, the L1 motioncompensator 936 may perform the L1 motion compensation on the currentblock based on the L1 reference picture and the L1 motion information togenerate the L1 motion compensated block. Here, when the high accuracymotion compensation is applied, the L0 motion compensator 933 may bereferred to as the L0 high accuracy (HA) motion compensator and the L1motion compensator 936 may also be referred to as the L1 HA motioncompensator.

The weighting averager 939 may perform a weighting average on the L0motion compensated block and the L1 motion compensated block to finallygenerate the single motion compensated block. Here, when the HA motioncompensation is applied, the weighting averager 939 may be referred toas the HA weighting averager. In this case, the finally generated singlemotion compensated block may correspond to the prediction block of thecurrent block.

The above-mentioned inter prediction apparatus may perform the motioncompensation process on the current block only once when the L0 motioninformation and the L1 motion information are the same. Therefore, theinter prediction apparatus may reduce the calculation complexity.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart schematically showing an inter prediction methodaccording to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 10, the motion information mayinclude the prediction direction information, the L0 reference picturenumber, the L1 reference picture number, the L0 motion vector, the L1motion vector, and the like. It is assumed that the prediction directioninformation of the motion information input to the process of FIG. 10indicates the bidirectional prediction and the current block has the twomotion information (the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation). In this case, when the L0 motion information (thereference picture number and the motion vectors) and the L1 motioninformation (the reference picture number and the motion vectors) arethe same, the encoder and the decoder may use only the L0 motioninformation as the motion information of the current block to reduce thecalculation complexity.

Referring to FIG. 10, the encoder and the decoder may determine whetherthe L0 motion information (the reference picture number and the motionvectors) and the L1 motion information (the reference picture number andthe motion vectors) are the same (S1010). That is, the encoder and thedecoder may determine whether the L0 reference picture number and the L1reference picture number are the same and the L0 motion vector and theL1 motion vector are the same.

When the L0 reference picture number and the L1 reference picture numberare the same and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are thesame, the encoder and the decoder may again set the prediction directioninformation of the current block as the unidirectional prediction(S1020). In this case, when the encoded or decoded block after thecurrent block uses the prediction direction information of the currentblock, the prediction direction information of the encoded or decodedblock after the current block may be set as the unidirectionalprediction other than the bidirectional prediction. In addition, in thiscase, the encoder and the decoder may use only the L0 motion informationas the motion information of the current block. For example, the encoderand the decoder may perform the unidirectional motion compensation onthe current block based on the L0 motion information to generate theprediction block.

When the L0 reference picture number and the L1 reference picture numberare not the same and/or the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vectorare not the same, the encoder and the decoder may use the L0 motioninformation and the L1 motion information as the motion information ofthe current block (S1030). For example, the encoder and the decoder mayperform the bidirectional motion compensation on the current block basedon the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information to generatethe prediction block.

Meanwhile, in the exemplary embodiments of the present invention asdescribed above, the prediction direction information is set based onthe identity of the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information,but the encoder and the decoder may set the prediction directioninformation based on the size of the current block.

As the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the encoder andthe decoder may determine whether the size of the current block issmaller than the predetermined size. Here, the current block may be theCU, PU, and/or TU and the predetermined size may be, for example, one of8×8, 16×16, 32×32, and the like.

When the size of the current block is smaller than the predeterminedsize, the encoder and the decoder may again set the prediction directioninformation of the current block as the unidirectional prediction. Forexample, the encoder and the decoder may set only the L0 motioninformation among the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation as the motion information of the current block. To this end,the encoder and the decoder may also use a method for removing the L1motion information value from the motion information of the currentblock or setting the L1 motion information value to 0 and/or 1. In thiscase, the encoder and the decoder may use only the L0 motion informationas the motion information of the current block. For example, the encoderand the decoder may perform the unidirectional motion compensation ofthe current block based on the L0 motion information to generate theprediction block.

When the size of the current block is a predetermined size or more, theencoder and the decoder may use the L0 motion information and the L1motion information as the motion information of the current block. Forexample, the encoder and the decoder may perform the bidirectionalmotion compensation on the current block based on the L0 motioninformation and the L1 motion information to generate the predictionblock.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing inter prediction according to anexemplary embodiment of FIG. 10.

The inter prediction apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment ofFIG. 11 may include a motion information determination unit 1110, an L0motion information and L1 motion information registration unit 1120, anda prediction direction information resetting and L0 motion informationregistration unit 1130.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 11, the motion information mayinclude the prediction direction information, the L0 reference picturenumber, the L1 reference picture number, the L0 motion vector, the L1motion vector, and the like. It is assumed that the prediction directioninformation of the motion information input to the motion informationdetermination unit 1110 of FIG. 11 indicates the bidirectionalprediction and the current block has the two motion information (the L0motion information and the L1 motion information). When the L0 motioninformation (the reference picture number and the motion vectors) andthe L1 motion information (the reference picture number and the motionvectors) are the same, the inter prediction apparatus may use only theL0 motion information as the motion information of the current block toreduce the calculation complexity.

Referring to FIG. 11, the motion information determination unit 1110 maydetermine whether the L0 motion information (the reference picturenumber and the motion vectors) and the L1 motion information (thereference picture number and the motion vectors) are the same. That is,the motion information determination unit 1110 may determine whether theL0 reference picture number and the L1 reference picture number are thesame and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are the same.

When the L0 reference picture number and the L1 reference picture numberare not the same and/or the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vectorare not the same, the L0 motion information and L1 motion informationregistration unit 1120 may perform the operation and/or calculation. TheL0 motion information and L1 motion information registration unit 1120may determine the L0 motion information and L1 motion information as themotion information used for the current block. In this case, forexample, the encoder and the decoder may perform the bidirectionalmotion compensation on the current block based on the L0 motioninformation and the L1 motion information to generate the predictionblock.

When the L0 reference picture number and the L1 reference picture numberare the same and/or the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector arethe same, the prediction direction information resetting and L0 motioninformation registration unit 1130 may perform the operation and/orcalculation. When the L0 reference picture number and the L1 referencepicture number are the same and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motionvector are the same, the prediction direction information resetting andL0 motion information registration unit 1130 may again set theprediction direction information of the current block as theunidirectional prediction. In this case, when the encoded or decodedblock after the current block uses the prediction direction informationof the current block, the prediction direction information of theencoded or decoded block after the current block may be set as theunidirectional prediction other than the bidirectional prediction. Inthis case, the prediction direction information resetting and L0 motioninformation registration unit 1130 may determine only the L0 motioninformation as the motion information used for the current block. Inthis case, for example, the encoder and the decoder may perform theunidirectional motion compensation on the current block based on the L0motion information to generate the prediction block.

Meanwhile, in the exemplary embodiments of the present invention asdescribed above, the prediction direction information is set based onthe identity of the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information,but the inter prediction apparatus may also set the prediction directioninformation based on the size of the current block.

As the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the motioninformation determination unit 1110 may determine whether the size ofthe current block is smaller than the predetermined size. Here, thecurrent block may be the CU, PU, and/or TU and the predetermined sizemay be, for example, one of 8×8, 16×16, 32×32, and the like.

When the size of the current block is a predetermined size or more, theL0 motion information and L1 motion information registration unit 1120may perform the operation and/or calculation. The L0 motion informationand L1 motion information registration unit 1120 may determine the L0motion information and L1 motion information as the motion informationused for the current block. In this case, for example, the encoder andthe decoder may perform the bidirectional motion compensation on thecurrent block based on the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation to generate the prediction block.

When the size of the current block is smaller than a predetermined size,the prediction direction information resetting and L0 motion informationregistration unit 1130 may perform the operation and/or calculation.When the size of the current block is smaller than the predeterminedsize, the prediction direction information resetting and L0 motioninformation registration unit 1130 may again set the predictiondirection information of the current block as the unidirectionalprediction. For example, the prediction direction information resettingand L0 motion information registration unit 1130 may set only the L0motion information among the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation as the motion information of the current block. To this end,the prediction direction information resetting and L0 motion informationregistration unit 1130 may also use the method for removing the L1motion information value among the motion information of the currentblock or setting the L1 motion information value to 0 and/or 1. In thiscase, the prediction direction information resetting and L0 motioninformation registration unit 1130 may determine only the L0 motioninformation as the motion information used for the current block. Inthis case, for example, the encoder and the decoder may perform theunidirectional motion compensation on the current block based on the L0motion information to generate the prediction block.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an interprediction method according to another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 12 shows an exemplary embodiment when thedefault weighting prediction is applied. In FIG. 12, it is assumed thatthe current block has two motion information (the L0 motion informationand the L1 motion information).

Referring to FIG. 12, In the motion information and reference picturedetermining process 1210, it may be determined whether theunidirectional motion compensation is performed or the bidirectionalmotion compensation is performed, based on the L0 motion information(the L0 motion vector and the L0 reference picture number), the L1motion information (the L1 motion vector and the L1 reference picturenumber), and/or the L1 reference picture list. In the motion informationand reference picture determining process 1210, it may be determinedwhether the L0 motion information (the L0 motion vector and the L0reference picture number) and the L1 motion information (the L1 motionvector and the L1 reference picture number) are the same. The motioncompensation process may be optionally performed according to thedetermination result.

For example, when the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference pictureare the same and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are thesame, the encoder and the decoder may perform the unidirectional motioncompensation process 1220 when the number of reference pictures includedin the L1 reference picture list is one or less and may perform thebidirectional motion compensation process 1230 when the number ofreference pictures included in the L1 reference picture list is two ormore.

When the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture are the same,the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are the same, and thenumber of reference pictures included in the L1 reference picture listis two or more, the encoder and the decoder may set another referencepicture excluding the L1 reference picture from the reference pictureswithin the L1 reference picture list as a new L1 reference picture. Inthis case, the bidirectional motion compensation process 1230 may beperformed based on a newly set L1 reference picture other than theexisting L1 reference picture. In this case, the encoder and the decodermay use the L1 motion vector as it is and search the new L1 motionvector in the newly set L1 reference picture so as to be used for thebidirectional motion compensation 1230 instead of the existing L1 motionvector.

In addition, when the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference pictureare not the same and/or the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vectorare not the same, the encoder and the decoder may perform aunidirectional motion compensation process 1230.

In the unidirectional motion compensation process 1220, the encoder andthe decoder may perform the L0 motion compensation on the current blockusing the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information. Theencoder and the decoder may perform the L0 motion compensation togenerate the L0 motion compensated block. In this case, the L0 motioncompensated block may correspond to the prediction block of the currentblock.

In the bidirectional motion compensation process 1230, the encoder andthe decoder may perform the L0 motion compensation on the current blockusing the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information to generatethe L0 motion compensated block. Further, the encoder and the decodermay perform the L1 motion compensation on the current block using the L1reference picture and the L1 motion information to generate the L1motion compensated block.

When the bidirectional motion compensation process 1230 is applied, theencoder and the decoder may finally perform the weighting average on theL0 motion compensated block and the L1 motion compensated block togenerate the single motion compensated block. In this case, the finallygenerated single motion compensated block may correspond to theprediction block of the current block.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an interprediction method according to another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

In FIG. 13, it is assumed that the current block has two motioninformation (the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information).In FIG. 12, the above-mentioned inter prediction method may beidentically or similarly applied to the non-default weighting predictionas shown in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 13, in addition to thedefault weighting prediction.

Referring to FIG. 13, the encoder and the decoder may determine whetherthe non-default weighting prediction is used for the current block orthe default weighting prediction is used for the current block (1310).For example, this may be indicated by the weighting prediction index.The detailed exemplary embodiment of the weighting prediction index isdescribed and therefore, the description thereof will be omitted.

When the non-default weighting prediction is used, it may be determinedwhether the L0 motion information (the reference picture number and themotion vectors) and the L1 motion information (the reference picturenumber and the motion vectors) are the same in the motion informationdetermining process 1320. The motion compensation process may beoptionally performed according to the determination result.

For example, when the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference pictureare the same and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are thesame, the encoder and the decoder may perform the unidirectional motioncompensation process 1330 when the number of reference pictures includedin the L1 reference picture list is one or less and may perform thebidirectional motion compensation process 1340 when the number ofreference pictures included in the L1 reference picture list is two ormore.

When the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture are the same,the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are the same, and thenumber of reference pictures included in the L1 reference picture listis two or more, the encoder and the decoder may set another referencepicture excluding the L1 reference picture from the reference pictureswithin the L1 reference picture list as a new L1 reference picture. Inthis case, the bidirectional motion compensation process 1340 may beperformed based on a newly set L1 reference picture other than theexisting L1 reference picture may be performed. In this case, theencoder and the decoder may use the L1 motion vector as it is and searchthe new L1 motion vector in the newly set L1 reference picture so as tobe used for the bidirectional motion compensation 1340 instead of theexisting L1 motion vector.

When the non-default weighting prediction is used, the encoder and thedecoder may apply the weight other than the default weight, that is, thenon-default weight to the L0 motion compensated block and/or the L1motion compensated block at the time of performing the motioncompensation. The process of performing the unidirectional motioncompensation 1330 and the bidirectional motion compensation 1340 whenthe non-default weighting prediction is applied is the same in FIG. 8other than the above-mentioned contents and therefore, the descriptionthereof will be described.

When the default weighting prediction is applied, the same motioncompensation process as the exemplary embodiments of FIG. 12 asdescribed above may be performed. Therefore, the detailed exemplaryembodiments of the present invention of the motion compensation processwhen the default weighting prediction is applied will be describedherein.

In the inter prediction method of FIGS. 12 and 13 as described above,when the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information are thesame block, the bidirectional motion compensation may be performed basedon the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture that is not thesame as the L0 reference picture. Therefore, in the inter predictionmethod, the problem caused by the repetitive performance of the sameprocess can be solved and the encoding/decoding efficiency can beimproved. FIG. 14 is a block diagram schematically showing an interprediction apparatus capable of performing default weighting predictionaccording to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 12.

In FIG. 14, it is assumed that the current block has two motioninformation (the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information).The inter prediction apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment ofFIG. 14 receives the L0 motion information (the reference picture numberand the motion vector), the L1 motion information (the reference picturenumber and the motion vector), and the L1 reference picture list togenerate the prediction block for the current block. The interprediction apparatus may include a motion information and referencedetermination unit 1410, a unidirectional motion compensation unit 1420,and a bidirectional motion compensation unit 1430. In thisconfiguration, the unidirectional motion compensation unit 1420 mayinclude an L0 motion compensator 1425 and the bidirectional motioncompensation unit 1430 may include an L0 motion compensator 1433, an L1motion compensator 1436, and a weighting averager 1439.

Referring to FIG. 14, the motion information and reference picturedetermination unit 1410 may determine whether the unidirectional motioncompensation is performed or the bidirectional motion compensation isperformed, based on the L0 motion information (the L0 motion vector andthe L0 reference picture number), the L1 motion information (the L1motion vector and the L1 reference picture number), and/or the L1reference picture list.

For example, when the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference pictureare the same and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are thesame, the inter prediction apparatus may perform the unidirectionalmotion compensation process by the unidirectional motion compensationunit 1420 when the number of reference pictures included in the L1reference picture list is one or less and may perform the bidirectionalmotion compensation process by the bidirectional motion compensationunit 1430 when the number of reference pictures included in the L1reference picture list is two or more.

When the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture are the same,the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are the same, and thenumber of reference pictures included in the L1 reference picture listis two or more, the motion information and reference picturedetermination unit 1410 may set another reference picture excluding theL1 reference picture from the reference pictures within the L1 referencepicture list as a new L1 reference picture. In this case, thebidirectional motion compensation process may be performed based on anewly set L1 reference picture other than the existing L1 referencepicture. In this case, the inter prediction apparatus may use the L1motion vector as it is and search the new L1 motion picture in the newlyset L1 reference picture so as to be used for the bidirectional motioncompensation 1230 instead of the existing L1 motion vector.

In addition, when the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference pictureare not the same and/or the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vectorare not the same, the inter prediction apparatus may perform thebidirectional motion compensation process by the bidirectional motioncompensation unit 1430.

During the unidirectional motion compensation process, the L0 motioncompensator 1425 may perform the L0 motion compensation on the currentblock based on the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information.The L0 motion compensator 1425 may perform the L0 motion compensation togenerate the L0 motion compensated block. In this case, the L0 motioncompensated block may correspond to the prediction block of the currentblock.

During the bidirectional motion compensation process, the L0 motioncompensator 1433 may perform the L0 motion compensation on the currentblock based on the L0 reference picture and the L0 motion information togenerate the L0 motion compensated block. In addition, the L1 motioncompensator 1436 may perform the L1 motion compensation on the currentblock based on the L1 reference picture and the L1 motion information togenerate the L1 motion compensated block. Here, when the high accuracymotion compensation is applied, the L0 motion compensator 1433 may bereferred to as the L0 high accuracy (HA) motion compensator and the L1motion compensator 1436 may also be referred to as the L1 HA motioncompensator.

The weighting averager 1439 may perform the weighting average on the L0motion compensated block and the L1 motion compensated block to finallygenerate the single motion compensated block. Here, when the HA motioncompensation is applied, the weighting averager 1439 may be referred toas the HA weighting averager. In this case, the finally generated singlemotion compensated block may correspond to the prediction block of thecurrent block.

When the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information are thesame, the above-mentioned inter prediction apparatus may perform thebidirectional motion compensation for the current block based on the L0reference picture and the L1 reference picture that are not same as theL0 reference picture. Therefore, the inter prediction apparatus mayimprove the encoding/decoding efficiency.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart schematically showing a merge candidatedetermining method according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention when a merge is applied to a current block. Here, the mergecandidates may also be referred to as the motion information candidate.Hereinafter, the merge candidate corresponding to the L0 motioninformation are referred to as an L0 merge candidate and the mergecandidate corresponding to the L1 motion information is referred to asan L1 merge candidate.

As described above, when the merge is applied, if the motion informationof the reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the motion information ofthe col block are present, the encoder and the decoder may determine orregister the information as the merge candidates for the current block.FIG. 15 shows a process in which the motion information of thereconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the motion information of thecol block are determined and registered as the merge candidates for thecurrent block. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 15, the motioninformation may include the prediction direction information, the L0reference picture number, the L1 reference picture number, the L0 motionvector, the L1 motion vector, and the like. Hereinafter, the referenceblock may mean the reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the col blockand the reference motion information may mean the motion information ofthe reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the motion information ofthe col block.

When the merge candidates are determined or registered, the encoder mayselect the merge candidates capable of providing the optimal encodingefficiency as the motion information of the current block from thedetermined or registered merge candidates. In this case, the merge indexindicating the selected merge candidates may be transmitted to thedecoder, while being included in the bit streams. The decoder may usethe transmitted merge index to select one of the determined orregistered merge candidates and may determine the selected mergecandidates as the motion information of the current block.

Further, when the block in which the L0 motion information and the L1motion information are the same is generated, the generated block mayaffect blocks encoded later. For example, when the merge is applied, themotion information (the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation) of the reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the colblock as described above may be used as the motion information of thecurrent block as it is. Therefore, when the block in which the L0 motioninformation and the L1 motion information are the same is generated,other blocks in which the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation are the same may be generated more.

In order to solve the above problems, when the L0 motion information(the L0 reference picture number and the L0 motion vector) and the L1motion information (the L1 reference picture number and the L1 motionvector) of the reference block are the same, the encoder and the decodermay determine or register only the L0 motion information of thereference block as the merge candidates for the current block.

Referring to FIG. 15, the encoder and the decoder may set the predictiondirections of the merge candidates for the current block as theprediction directions of the reference block (S1510). As describedabove, the prediction direction information may mean informationindicating whether the unidirectional prediction is applied to the blocksubjected to the prediction or the bidirectional prediction is appliedthereto. Therefore, the prediction directions may correspond to theunidirectional prediction or the bidirectional prediction. In addition,the encoder and the decoder may determine or register the L0 motioninformation of the reference block for the current block as the L0 mergecandidate for the current block (S1520).

Referring again to FIG. 15, the encoder and the decoder may determinewhether the current picture is the B picture (S1530). Here, the currentpicture may means the picture including the current block. When thecurrent picture is not the B picture, the encoder and the decoder maynot perform the L1 merge candidate determining process. When the currentpicture is the B picture, the encoder and the decoder may determinewhether the L0 motion information of the reference block and the L1motion information of the reference block are the same (S1540).

When the L0 motion information of the reference block and the L1 motioninformation of the reference block are the same, the encoder and thedecoder may set the prediction directions of the merge candidates forthe current block as the unidirectional prediction (S1550). In thiscase, the encoder and the decoder may not register the L1 motioninformation of the reference block as the L1 merge candidate for thecurrent block. That is, in this case, only the L0 motion information ofthe reference block may be determined or registered as the mergecandidates for the current block. When the L0 motion information of thereference block and the L1 motion information of the reference block arenot the same, the encoder and the decoder may set the predictiondirections of the merge candidates for the current block as thebidirectional prediction and may determine or register the L1 motioninformation of the reference block as the L1 merge candidate for thecurrent block (S1560).

FIG. 16 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a merge candidate determining processaccording to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 15. The inter predictionapparatus of FIG. 16 may include a prediction direction setting unit1610, an L0 merge candidate determination unit 1620, a motioninformation determination unit 1630, an L1 merge candidate determinationunit 1640, and a prediction direction resetting unit 1650.

The inter prediction apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment ofFIG. 16 may determine the merge candidates for the current block, basedon the L0 motion information of the reference block, the L1 motioninformation of the reference block, and the prediction directioninformation of the reference block. In this case, when the L0 motioninformation (the L0 reference picture number and the L0 motion vector)and the L1 motion information (the L1 reference picture number and theL1 motion vector) of the reference block are the same, the interprediction apparatus may determine or register only the L0 motioninformation of the reference block as the merge candidates for thecurrent block. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 16, the motioninformation may include the L0 reference picture number, the L1reference picture number, the L0 motion vector, the L1 motion vector,and the like.

Referring to FIG. 16, the prediction direction setting unit 1610 may setthe prediction directions of the merge candidates for the current blockas the prediction directions of the reference block. In addition, the L0merge candidate determination unit 1620 may determine or register the L0motion information of the reference block as the L0 merge candidate forthe current block. The motion information determination unit 1630 maydetermine whether the L0 motion information of the reference block andthe L1 motion information of the reference block are the same.

When the L0 motion information of the reference block and the L1 motioninformation of the reference block are not the same, the L1 mergecandidate determination unit 1640 may determine or register the L1motion information of the reference block as the L1 merge candidate forthe current block. When the L0 motion information of the reference blockand the L1 motion information of the reference block are the same, theprediction direction resetting unit 1650 may set the predictiondirections of the merge candidates for the current block as theunidirectional prediction. In this case, the inter prediction apparatusmay not register the L1 motion information of the reference block as theL1 merge candidate for the current block. That is, in this case, onlythe L0 motion information of the reference block may be determined orregistered as the merge candidates for the current block.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart schematically showing a temporal motioninformation deriving method according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

As described above, in the AMVP and the merge mode, in order to derivethe motion information of the current block, the motion information ofthe reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the motion information ofthe col block may be used. Here, the motion information derived from thecol block may be referred to as the temporal motion information.

The temporal motion information may be derived from the motioninformation of the col block corresponding to the current block withinthe previously reconstructed reference pictures. For example, when theL0 temporal motion information of the current block is derived, theencoder and the decoder may use the L0 motion information of the colblock corresponding to the current block within the reference pictures.However, when the L0 motion information is not present in the col block,the encoder and the decoder may use the L1 motion information of the colblock as the L0 temporal motion information of the current block. On theother hand, when the L1 temporal motion information of the current blockis derived, the encoder and the decoder may use the L1 motioninformation of the col block corresponding to the current block withinthe reference pictures. However, when the L1 motion information is notpresent in the col block, the encoder and the decoder may use the L0motion information of the col block as the L1 temporal motioninformation of the current block. As the result of the processperformance as described above, the phenomenon in which the L0 motioninformation and the L1 motion information of the current block are thesame may occur.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a temporal motioninformation deriving method for deriving the temporal motion informationof the current block may be provided according to list information. Inthe exemplary embodiment of FIG. 17, the list information may mean theinformation indicating whether the L0 motion information and/or the L1motion information are present in the col block.

Referring to FIG. 17, the encoder and the decoder may determine whetherthe L0 motion information is present in the col block for the currentblock (S1710). When the L0 motion information is present in the colblock, the encoder and the decoder may determine or set the L0 motioninformation of the col block as the L0 temporal motion information ofthe current block (S1720). When the L0 motion information is not presentin the col block, the encoder and the decoder may not set, for example,the L0 temporal motion information. That is, in this case, the L0temporal motion information may not be derived. In this case, thetemporal motion information used for the inter prediction of the currentblock may not include the L0 temporal motion information. When the L0motion information is not present in the col block, as another example,the encoder and the decoder may set the L1 motion information of the colblock as the L0 temporal motion information of the current block or mayalso set the motion vector (0,0) as the L0 temporal motion vector forthe current block.

Referring again to FIG. 17, the encoder and the decoder may determinewhether the current picture is the B picture (S1730). When the currentpicture is not the B picture, the encoder and the decoder may end thetemporal motion information deriving process. When the current pictureis the B picture, the encoder and the decoder may perform the L1 motioninformation setting process for the current block.

When the current picture is the B picture, the encoder and the decodermay determine whether the L1 motion information is present in the colblock for the current block (S1740). When the L1 motion information ispresent in the col block, the encoder and the decoder may determine orset the L1 motion information of the col block as the L1 temporal motioninformation of the current block (S1750). When the L1 motion informationis not present in the col block, the encoder and the decoder may notset, for example, the L1 temporal motion information. That is, in thiscase, the L1 temporal motion information may not be derived. In thiscase, the temporal motion information used for the inter prediction ofthe current block may not include the L1 temporal motion information.When the L1 motion information is not present in the col block, asanother example, the encoder and the decoder may also set the motionblock (0,0) as the L1 temporal motion vector for the current block.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a temporal motion information derivingprocess according to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 17. The interprediction apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 18may include a prediction direction setting unit 1810, an L0 motioninformation determination unit 1820, an L0 temporal motion informationsetting unit 1830, a picture determination unit 1840, an L1 motioninformation determination unit 1850, and an L1 temporal motioninformation setting unit 1860.

The inter prediction apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment ofFIG. 18, the temporal motion information of the current block may bederived according to the list information. In the exemplary embodimentof FIG. 18, the list information may mean the information indicatingwhether the L0 motion information and/or the L1 motion information arepresent in the col block.

Referring to FIG. 18, the prediction direction setting unit 1810 may setthe prediction directions of the temporal motion information of thecurrent block as the prediction directions of the col block. The L0motion information determination unit 1820 may determine whether the L0motion information is present in the col block for the current block.When the L0 motion information is present in the col block, the L0temporal motion information setting unit 1830 may determine or set theL0 motion information of the col block as the L0 temporal motioninformation of the current block. When the L0 motion information is notpresent in the col block, the inter prediction apparatus may not set,for example, the L0 temporal motion information. That is, in this case,the L0 temporal motion information may not be derived. In this case, thetemporal motion information used for the inter prediction of the currentblock may not include the L0 temporal motion information. When the L0motion information is not present in the col block, as another example,the inter prediction apparatus may set the L1 motion information of thecol block as the L0 temporal motion information of the current block ormay also set the motion vector (0,0) as the L0 temporal motion vectorfor the current block.

The picture determination unit 1840 may determine whether the currentpicture is the B picture. When the current picture is not the B picture,the inter prediction apparatus may end the temporal motion informationderiving process. In this case, the inter prediction apparatus may setthe prediction directions of the temporal motion information of thecurrent block as the unidirectional prediction and then, end thetemporal motion information deriving process. When the current pictureis the B picture, the inter prediction apparatus may perform the L1motion information setting process for the current block.

When the current picture is the B picture, the L1 motion informationdetermination unit 1850 may determine whether the L1 motion informationis present in the col block for the current block. When the L1 motioninformation is present in the col block, the L1 temporal motioninformation setting unit 1860 may determine or set the L1 motioninformation of the col block as the L1 temporal motion information ofthe current block. When the L1 motion information is not present in thecol block, the inter prediction apparatus may not set, for example, theL1 temporal motion information. That is, in this case, the L1 temporalmotion information may not be derived. In this case, the temporal motioninformation used for the inter prediction of the current block may notinclude the L1 temporal motion information. When the L1 motioninformation is not present in the col block, as another example, theinter prediction apparatus may also set the motion vector (0,0) as theL1 temporal motion vector of the current block. FIG. 19 is a flow chartschematically showing a temporal motion information deriving method of acurrent block according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

As described above, the temporal motion information may be derived fromthe motion information of the col block corresponding to the currentblock within the previously reconstructed reference pictures. Thetemporal motion information derived from the col block may include theprediction direction information, the L0 reference picture number, theL1 reference picture number, the L0 motion vector, the L1 motion vector,and the like. In this case, the case in which the L0 temporal motioninformation (the L0 reference picture number and the L0 motion vector)and the L1 temporal motion information (the L1 reference picture numberand the L1 motion vector) that are derived from the col block are thesame may be generated. When the L0 temporal motion information and theL1 temporal motion information are the same, that is, when the L0reference picture number and the L1 reference picture number are thesame and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are the same, theencoder and the decoder may use only the L0 temporal motion informationas the temporal motion information of the current block.

Referring to FIG. 19, the encoder and the decoder may determine whetherthe L0 temporal motion information and the L1 temporal motioninformation are the same in the temporal motion information derived fromthe col block, that is, the L0 reference picture number and the L1reference picture number are the same and the L0 motion vector and theL1 motion vector are the same (S1910).

When the L0 temporal motion information and the L1 temporal motioninformation are not the same, the encoder and the decoder may use thetemporal motion information derived from the col block as the temporalmotion information of the current block as it is. When the AMVP isapplied, the temporal motion information of the current block may bedetermined or registered as the prediction motion vector candidate forthe current block. In addition, when the merge is applied, the temporalmotion information of the current block may be determined or registeredas the merge candidates for the current block.

When the L0 temporal motion information and the L1 temporal motioninformation are the same, the encoder and the decoder may set theprediction directions of the temporal motion information of the currentblock as the unidirectional prediction and may use only the L0 temporalmotion information among the temporal motion information derived fromthe col block as the temporal motion information of the current block(S1920). In this case, when the AMVP is applied, only the L0 temporalmotion information may be determined or registered as the predictionmotion vector candidate of the current block. In addition, when themerge is applied, only the L0 temporal motion information may bedetermined or registered as the merge candidates for the current block.

Meanwhile, there may be the case in which the L0 reference picture listand the L1 reference picture list for the current block art the same.For example, when the current block is a block within the forward Bpicture and/or the forward B slice, the L0 reference picture list andthe L1 reference picture list for the current block may be the same. Inthis case, in order to prevent the L0 temporal motion information andthe L1 temporal motion information of the current block from being thesame as each other, the encoder and the decoder may set all of theprediction directions of the temporal motion information derived fromthe col block as the unidirectional prediction. In this case, theencoder may use only the L0 temporal motion information among thetemporal motion information derived from the col block as the temporalmotion information of the current block. In this case, as describedabove, when the AMVP is applied, only the L0 temporal motion informationmay be determined or registered as the prediction motion vectorcandidate of the current block. In addition, when the merge is applied,only the L0 temporal motion information may be determined or registeredas the merge candidates for the current block.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a temporal motion information derivingprocess according to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 19. The interprediction apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention of FIG. 20 may include a temporal motion informationdetermination unit 2010, a prediction direction resetting unit 2020, andan L0 temporal motion information setting unit 2030.

As described above, the temporal motion information may be derived fromthe motion information of the col block corresponding to the currentblock within the previously reconstructed reference pictures. Thetemporal motion information derived from the col block may include theprediction direction information, the L0 reference picture number, theL1 reference picture number, the L0 motion vector, the L1 motion vector,and the like. In this case, when the L0 temporal motion information andthe L1 temporal motion information are the same, that is, when the L0reference picture number and the L1 reference picture number are thesame and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are the same, theinter prediction apparatus may use only the L0 temporal motioninformation as the temporal motion information of the current block.

Referring to FIG. 20, the temporal motion information determination unit2010 may determine whether the L0 temporal motion information and the L1temporal motion information are the same in the temporal motioninformation derived from the col block, that is, the L0 referencepicture number and the L1 reference picture number are the same and theL0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector are the same.

When the L0 temporal motion information and the L1 temporal motioninformation are not the same, the inter prediction apparatus may use thetemporal motion information derived from the col block as the temporalmotion information of the current block as it is. When the AMVP isapplied, the temporal motion information of the current block may bedetermined or registered as the prediction motion vector candidate forthe current block. In addition, when the merge is applied, the temporalmotion information of the current block may be determined or registeredas the merge candidates for the current block.

When the L0 temporal motion information and the L1 temporal motioninformation are the same, the prediction direction resetting unit 2020may set the prediction directions of the temporal motion information ofthe current block as the unidirectional prediction. Further, in thiscase, the L0 motion information setting unit 2030 may determine or useonly the L0 temporal motion information among the temporal motioninformation derived from the col block as the temporal motioninformation of the current block. In this case, when the AMVP isapplied, only the L0 temporal motion information may be determined orregistered as the prediction motion vector candidate of the currentblock. In addition, when the merge is applied, only the L0 temporalmotion information may be determined or registered as the mergecandidates for the current block.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart schematically showing a collocated (col) picturedetermining method according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention when the temporal motion information of the current block isderived.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 21, it is assumed that the currentpicture and/or the current slice are the forward B picture and/or theforward B slice. As described above, in the forward B picture and/or theforward B slice, generally, the L0 reference picture list and the L1reference picture list may be identically set.

In addition, as described above, the temporal motion information may bederived from the motion information of the col block corresponding tothe current block within the previously reconstructed referencepictures. In this case, the col picture may mean the previouslyreconstructed reference pictures including the col block. The colpicture may be a picture that is encoded and decoded in advance and ispresent as the reference pictures within the reference picture list. Theencoder and the decoder may use at least one reference picture among allthe reference pictures included in the reference picture list as the colpicture, at the time of deriving the temporal motion information.

Generally, the encoder and the decoder may determine or set a picturehaving the smallest difference between a current encoding object pictureand a picture number (hereinafter, referred to as a picture number)according to a POC order among the reference pictures included in thereference picture list as the col picture for the current block. Forexample, when the picture having the smallest difference between thecurrent encoding object picture and the picture number is a firstpicture within the reference picture list, the first reference picturewithin the reference picture list may generally be determined or set asthe col picture.

As another example, the encoder may determine the col picture for thecurrent block and then, encodes a col picture index that indicates thereference picture used as the col picture among the reference pictureswithin the reference picture list and transmit the encoded col pictureindex to the decoder. In this case, the decoder may receive and decodethe col picture index and then, determine or set the reference picturesused as the col picture within the reference picture list based on thedecoded col picture index.

Hereinafter, in connection with the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 21, thefirst reference picture within the L0 reference picture list is referredto as the L0 reference picture and the first reference picture withinthe L1 reference picture list is referred to as the L1 referencepicture. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 21, the exemplaryembodiment of the case in which the first reference picture within thereference picture list is determined as the col picture will bedescribed.

However, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is notlimited thereto and the contents to be described below with reference toFIG. 21 may be identically or similarly applied to even the case inwhich the col picture is determined based on the col picture index. Inthis case, the L0 reference picture may mean the reference pictureindicated by the col picture index among the reference pictures withinthe L0 reference picture list and the L1 reference picture may mean thereference picture indicated by the col picture index among the referencepictures within the L1 reference picture list.

Referring to FIG. 21, when the current block is a block within theforward B picture and/or the forward B slice, the encoder and thedecoder may determine the col picture used to derive the temporal motioninformation of the current block based on the list information of thecurrent block. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 21, the listinformation may mean the information indicating whether the temporalmotion information to be derived for the current block is the L0temporal motion information or the L1 temporal motion information.

First, the encoder and the decoder may determine whether the temporalmotion information to be derived for the current block is the L1temporal motion information (S2110). When the temporal motioninformation to be derived for the current block is not the L1 temporalmotion information, that is, when the temporal motion information to bederived for the current block is the L0 temporal motion information, theencoder and the decoder may determine or set the first reference picture(when the col picture index is used, the reference picture indicated bythe col picture index) within the L0 reference picture list as the colpicture for the current block (S2120). When the temporal motioninformation to be derived for the current block is the L1 temporalmotion information, the encoder and the decoder may determine whetherthe L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture are the same(S2130).

When the L0 reference picture is not the same as the L1 referencepicture, the encoder and the decoder may determine or set the firstreference picture (when the col picture index is used, the referencepicture indicated by the col picture index) within the L1 referencepicture list as the col picture for the current block (S2140). When theL0 reference picture is the same as the L1 reference picture, theencoder and the decoder may determine or set the reference picture thatis not the same as the L0 reference picture among the reference pictureswithin the L1 reference picture list as the col picture for the currentblock (S2150). In this case, when the number of reference pictureswithin the L1 reference picture list is one or less, the encoder and thedecoder may also set the first reference picture (when the col pictureindex is used, the reference picture indicated by the col picture index)within the L1 reference picture list as the cal picture for the currentblock.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a col picture determining processaccording to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 21. The inter predictionapparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 22 may include alist information determination unit 2210, a reference picture identitydetermination unit 2220, a first col picture setting unit 2230, a secondcol picture setting unit 2240, and a third col picture setting unit2250.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 22, it is assumed that the currentpicture and/or the current slice are the forward B picture and/or theforward B slice. As described above, in the forward B picture and/or theforward B slice, generally, the L0 reference picture list and the L1reference picture list may be identically set.

Also, hereinafter, in connection with the exemplary embodiment of FIG.22, the first reference picture within the L0 reference picture list isreferred to as the L0 reference picture and the first reference picturewithin the L1 reference picture list is referred to as the L1 referencepicture. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 22, the exemplaryembodiment of the case in which the first reference picture within thereference picture list is determined as the col picture will bedescribed.

However, the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is notlimited thereto and the contents to be described below with reference toFIG. 22 may be identically or similarly applied to even the case inwhich the col picture is determined based on the col picture indexdescribed in FIG. 21. In this case, the L0 reference picture may meanthe reference picture indicated by the col picture index among thereference pictures within the L0 reference picture list and the L1reference picture may mean the reference picture indicated by the colpicture index among the reference pictures within the L1 referencepicture list.

The inter prediction apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention of FIG. 22 may determine or set the col pictureused to derive the temporal motion information of the current block byreceiving the list information, the L0 reference picture, and the L1reference picture by the current block. When the current block is ablock within the forward B picture and/or the forward B slice, the interprediction apparatus may determine the col picture used to derive thetemporal motion information of the current block based on the listinformation. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 22, the listinformation may mean the information indicating whether the temporalmotion information to be derived for the current block is the L0temporal motion information or the L1 temporal motion information.

Referring to FIG. 22, the list information determination unit 2210 maydetermine whether the temporal motion information to be derived for thecurrent block is the L1 temporal motion information. When the temporalmotion information to be derived for the current block is not the L1temporal motion information, that is, when the temporal motioninformation to be derived for the current block is the L0 temporalmotion information, the first col picture setting unit 2230 maydetermine or set the first reference picture (when the col picture indexis used, the reference picture indicated by the col picture index)within the L0 reference picture list as the col picture for the currentblock. When the temporal motion information to be derived for thecurrent block is the L1 temporal motion information, the referencepicture identity determination unit 2220 may determine whether the L0reference picture and the L1 reference picture are the same.

When the L0 reference picture is the same as the L1 reference picture,the second col picture setting unit 2240 may determine or set thereference picture that is not the same as the L0 reference picture amongthe reference pictures within the L1 reference picture list as the colpicture of the current block. In this case, when the number of referencepictures within the L1 reference picture list is one or less, the secondcol picture setting unit 2240 may also set the first reference picture(when the col picture index is used, the reference picture indicated bythe col picture index) within the L1 reference picture list as the calpicture of the current block. When the L0 reference picture is not thesame as the L1 reference picture, the third col picture setting unit2250 may determine or set the first reference picture (when the colpicture index is used, the reference picture indicated by the colpicture index) within the L1 reference picture list as the col picturefor the current block.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart schematically showing a method for determiningmotion information of a current block according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention when all the blocks used to derivethe motion information candidate do not have the motion information.Herein, the motion information candidates mean the prediction motionvector candidates in the case of the AMVP mode and the merge candidatesin the case of the merge mode.

As described above, in the AMVP and the merge mode, in order to derivethe motion information of the current block, the motion information ofthe reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the motion information ofthe col block may be used. The motion information of the reconstructedneighboring blocks and/or the col block may be used as the motioninformation candidates and the encoder and the decoder may derive themotion information of the current block based on the motion informationcandidates. However, all the blocks (the reconstructed neighboringblocks and/or the col block) used to derive the motion informationcandidates may not have the motion information and therefore, in thiscase, a method for deriving or setting the motion information of thecurrent block may be provided.

Hereinafter, in connection with the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 23, thefirst reference picture within the L0 reference picture list is referredto as the L0 reference picture and the first reference picture withinthe L1 reference picture list is referred to as the L1 referencepicture.

Referring again to FIG. 23, the encoder and the decoder may determinewhether a picture type of the current picture is the B picture (S2310).When the picture type of the current picture is not the B picture, forexample, when the picture type of the current picture is the P picture,the encoder and the decoder may set the prediction directions of thecurrent block as the unidirectional prediction and the L0 referencepicture index may be set as 0 and the L0 motion vector may be as (0,0)(S2330). When the value assigned to the L0 reference picture index is 0,the L0 reference picture index may indicate that the first picture amongthe reference pictures within the L0 reference picture list is used asthe reference picture of the current picture. When the picture type ofthe current picture is the B picture, the encoder and the decoder maydetermine whether the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference pictureare the same (S2320).

In order to determine whether the L0 reference picture and the L1reference picture are the same, the encoder and the decoder maydetermine the identity between the reference picture number of the firstreference picture within the L0 reference picture list and the referencepicture number of the first reference picture within the L1 referencepicture list. In addition, generally, the encoder and the decoder maydetermine whether the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference pictureare the same by determining the identity between the L0 referencepicture number of the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picturenumber of the L1 reference picture. The method for determining theidentity of the reference pictures may be variously changed in somecases.

When the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture are the same,the encoder and the decoder may set the prediction directions of thecurrent block as the unidirectional prediction, the L0 reference pictureindex as 0, and the L0 motion vector as (0,0) (S2330). When the L0reference picture and the L1 reference picture are not the same, theencoder and the decoder may set the prediction directions of the currentblock as the bidirectional prediction, the L0 reference picture indexand the L1 reference picture index as 0, and set the L0 motion vectorand the L1 motion vector as (0,0) (S2340). When the value assigned tothe L1 reference picture index is 0, the L1 reference picture index mayindicate that the first picture among the reference pictures within theL1 reference picture list is used as the reference picture of thecurrent picture.

Hereinafter, in terms of the decoder, the exemplary embodiment of themotion information determining process according to the exemplaryembodiment of FIG. 23 will be described.

When the motion information is not present in the reconstructedneighboring blocks and/or the col block, mvLX, refIdxLX, and predFlagLXmay be differently defined according to the picture type of the currentpicture. Here, X may be replaced with 0 or 1. For example, when X is 0,mvLX, refIdxLX, and predFlagLX may each indicate mvL0, refIdxL0, andpredFlagL0, which may mean L0 motion information related variables.Here, the mvLX may mean the motion vector of the current block, mvLX[0]may mean the motion vector of x component, and mvLX[1] may mean themotion vector of y component. The refIdxLX may mean the LX referencepicture index that is an index indicating the reference picture used forthe inter prediction of the current block among the reference picturesincluded in the LX reference picture list. For example, when therefIdxLX value is ‘0’, the refIdxLX may indicate the first picture amongthe reference pictures within the LX reference picture list and when therefIdxLX value is ‘−1’, the refIdxLX may indicate that the referencepicture used for the inter prediction of the current block is notpresent in the LX reference picture list. The predflagLX may indicatethe flag indicating whether the prediction block is generated byperforming the LX motion compensation on the current block. For example,when the ‘pregflagLX’ value is 1, the encoder and/or the decoder mayperform the LX motion compensation on the current block.

When the picture type of the picture including the current block is theP picture and/or the slice type of the slice including the current blockis the P slice, the decoder may perform the following process.

mvLX[0]=0

mvLX[1]=0

refIdxL0=0

refIdxL1=−1

predFlagL0=1

prefFlagL1=0

Otherwise, that is, when the picture type of the picture including thecurrent block is the B picture and/or the slice type of the sliceincluding the current block is the B slice, the decoder may perform thefollowing process.

If the first reference picture within the L0 reference picture list andthe first reference picture within the L1 reference picture list are thesame, the decoder may perform the following process.

mvLX[0]=0

mvLX[1]=0

refIdxL00=0

refIdxL1=−1

predFlagL0=1

prefFlagL1=0

Otherwise, that is, if the first reference picture within the L0reference picture list and the first reference picture within the L1reference picture list are not the same, the decoder may perform thefollowing process.

mvLX[0]=0

mvLX[1]=0

refIdxL00=0

refIdxL1=0

predFlagL0=1

prefFlagL1=1

FIG. 24 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a motion information determining processaccording to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 23. The inter predictionapparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 24 may include adetermination unit 2410, a bidirectional motion information setting unit2420, and a unidirectional motion information setting unit 2430.

As described above, in the AMVP and the merge mode, in order to derivethe motion information of the current block, the motion information ofthe reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the motion information ofthe col block may be used. The motion information of the reconstructedneighboring blocks and/or the col block may be used as the motioninformation candidates and the encoder and the decoder may derive themotion information of the current block based on the motion informationcandidates. Herein, the motion information candidates mean theprediction motion vector candidates in the case of the AMVP mode and themerge candidates in the case of the merge mode. However, all the blocks(the reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the col block) used toderive the motion information candidates may not have the motioninformation. Therefore, in this case, the inter prediction apparatus forderiving or setting the motion information of the current block may beprovided.

Hereinafter, in connection with the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 24, thefirst reference picture within the L0 reference picture list is referredto as the L0 reference picture and the first reference picture withinthe L1 reference picture list is referred to as the L1 referencepicture.

Referring to FIG. 24, the determination unit 2410 receives the picturetype information, the L0 reference picture, and the L1 reference pictureand then, may determine whether the picture type of the current pictureis the B picture and the L0 reference picture and the L1 referencepicture are the same. The inter prediction apparatus may perform theunidirectional motion information setting by the unidirectional motioninformation setting unit 2420 or the bidirectional motion informationsetting by the bidirectional motion information setting unit 2430. Indetail, when the current picture is not the B picture (for example, whenthe picture type of the current picture is the P picture) or when thecurrent picture is the B picture and the L0 reference picture and the L1reference picture are the same, the unidirectional motion informationsetting may be set and when the current picture is the B picture and theL0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture are not the same, thebidirectional motion information setting may be performed.

When the current picture is not the B picture or the current picture isthe B picture and the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference pictureare the same, the unidirectional motion information setting unit 2420may set the prediction directions of the current block as theunidirectional prediction. In addition, the unidirectional motioninformation setting unit 2420 may set the L0 reference picture index as0 and the L0 motion vector as (0,0). When the current picture is the Bpicture and the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture arenot the same, the bidirectional motion information setting unit 2430 mayset the prediction directions of the current block as the bidirectionalprediction. In addition, the unidirectional motion information settingunit 2430 may set the L0 reference picture index and the L1 referencepicture index as 0 and the L0 motion vector and L2 motion vector as(0,0).

FIG. 25 is a flow chart schematically showing a method for determiningmotion information of a current block according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention when all the blocks used to derivethe motion information candidates do not have the motion information.Herein, the motion information candidates mean the prediction motionvector candidates in the case of the AMVP mode and the merge candidatesin the case of the merge mode.

In the exemplar embodiment of FIG. 25, it is assumed that the B pictureis the forward B picture. As described above, in the forward B picture,generally, the L0 reference picture list and the L1 reference picturelist may be identically set. In addition, as described above, in thespecification, the “picture” may be replaced with “frame”, “field”,and/or “slice” according to the context, which may be easily understoodto a person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

In the AMVP and the merge mode, in order to derive the motioninformation of the current block, the motion information of thereconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the motion information of thecol block may be used. The motion information of the reconstructedneighboring blocks and/or the col block may be used as the motioninformation candidates and the encoder and the decoder may derive themotion information of the current block based on the motion informationcandidates. However, all the blocks (the reconstructed neighboringblocks and/or the col block) used to derive the motion informationcandidates may not have the motion information and therefore, in thiscase, a method for deriving or setting the motion information of thecurrent block may be provided.

Hereinafter, in connection with the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 25, thefirst reference picture within the L0 reference picture list is referredto as the L0 reference picture and the first reference picture withinthe L1 reference picture list is referred to as the L1 referencepicture.

Referring to FIG. 25, the encoder and the decoder may determine whetherthe picture type of the current picture is the B picture (S2510). Whenthe picture type of the current picture is not the B picture, forexample, when the picture type of the current picture is the P picture,the encoder and the decoder may set the prediction directions of thecurrent block as the unidirectional prediction and the L0 referencepicture index may be set as 0 and the L0 motion vector may be set as(0,0) (S2520). When the value assigned to the L0 reference picture indexis 0, the L0 reference picture index may indicate that the first pictureamong the reference pictures within the L0 reference picture list isused as the reference picture of the current picture. When the picturetype of the current picture is the B picture, the encoder and thedecoder may determine whether the L0 reference picture and the L1reference picture are the same (S2530).

In order to determine whether the L0 reference picture and the L1reference picture are the same, the encoder and the decoder maydetermine the identity between the reference picture number of the firstreference picture within the L0 reference picture list and the referencepicture number of the first reference picture within the L1 referencepicture list. In addition, generally, the encoder and the decoder maydetermine whether the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference pictureare the same by determining the identity between the L0 referencepicture number of the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picturenumber of the L1 reference picture. The method for determining theidentity of the reference pictures may be variously changed in somecases.

When the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture are not thesame, the encoder and the decoder may set the prediction directions ofthe current block as the bidirectional prediction, the L0 referencepicture index and the L1 reference picture index as 0, and set the L0motion vector and the L1 motion vector as (0,0) (S2540). When the valueassigned to the L1 reference picture index is 0, the L1 referencepicture index may indicate that the first picture among the referencepictures within the L1 reference picture list is used as the referencepicture of the current picture. When the L0 reference picture and the L1reference picture are the same, the encoder and the decoder may set theprediction directions of the current block as the bidirectionalprediction, the L0 reference picture index as 0 and the L1 referencepicture index as 1, and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector as(0,0) (S2550). When the value assigned to the L1 reference picture indexis 1, the L1 reference picture index may indicate that the secondpicture among the reference pictures within the L1 reference picturelist is used as the reference picture of the current picture. Here, whenthe number of reference pictures included in the L1 reference picturelist are one or less, the encoder and the decoder may set the predictiondirections of the current block as the unidirectional prediction, the L0reference picture index as 0, and the L0 motion vector as (0,0).

Hereinafter, in terms of the decoder, the exemplary embodiment of themotion information determining process according to the exemplaryembodiment of FIG. 25 will be described.

When the motion information is not present in the reconstructedneighboring blocks and/or the col block, mvLX, refIdxLX, and predFlagLXmay be differently defined according to the picture type of the currentpicture. Here, X may be replaced with 0 or 1. For example, when X is 0,mvLX, refIdxLX, and predFlagLX may each indicate mvL0, refIdxL0, andpredFlagL0, which may mean L0 motion information related variables.Here, the mvLX may mean the motion vector of the current block, mvLX[0]may mean the motion vector of x component, and mvLX[1] may mean themotion vector of y component. The refIdxLX may mean the LX referencepicture index that is an index indicating the reference picture used forthe inter prediction of the current block among the reference picturesincluded in the LX reference picture list. For example, when therefIdxLX value is ‘0’, the refIdxLX may indicate the first picture amongthe reference pictures within the LX reference picture list and when therefIdxLX value is ‘−1’, the refIdxLX may indicate that the referencepicture used for the inter prediction of the current block is notpresent in the LX reference picture list. The predflagLX may indicatethe flag indicating whether the prediction block is generated byperforming the LX motion compensation on the current block. For example,when the ‘pregflagLX’ value is 1, the encoder and/or the decoder mayperform the LX motion compensation on the current block.

When the picture type of the picture including the current block is theP picture and/or the slice type of the slice including the current blockis the P slice, the decoder may perform the following process.

mvLX[0]=0

mvLX[1]=0

refIdxL00=0

refIdxL1=−1

predFlagL0=1

prefFlagL1=0

Otherwise, that is, when the picture type of the picture including thecurrent block is the B picture and/or the slice type of the sliceincluding the current block is the B slice, the decoder may perform thefollowing process.

If the first reference picture within the L0 reference picture list andthe first reference picture within the L1 reference picture list are thesame, the decoder may perform the following process.

mvLX[0]=0

mvLX[1]=0

refIdxL00=0

refIdxL1=1

predFlagL0=1

prefFlagL1=1

Otherwise, that is, if the first reference picture within the L0reference picture list and the first reference picture within the L1reference picture list are not the same, the decoder may perform thefollowing process.

mvLX[0]=0

mvLX[1]=0

refIdxL0=0

refIdxL1=0

predFlagL0=1

prefFlagL1=1

FIG. 26 is a block diagram schematically showing an inter predictionapparatus capable of performing a motion information determining processaccording to an exemplary embodiment of FIG. 25. The inter predictionapparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 26 may include adetermination unit 2610, a unidirectional motion information settingunit 2620, a first bidirectional motion information setting unit 2630,and a second bidirectional motion information setting unit 2640.

In the exemplar embodiment of FIG. 26, it is assumed that the B pictureis the forward B picture. As described above, in the forward B picture,generally, the L0 reference picture list and the L1 reference picturelist may be identically set. In addition, as described above, in thespecification, the “picture” may be replaced with “frame”, “field”,and/or “slice” according to the context, which may be easily understoodto a person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

In the AMVP and the merge mode, in order to derive the motioninformation of the current block, the motion information of thereconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the motion information of thecol block may be used. The motion information of the reconstructedneighboring blocks and/or the col block may be used as the motioninformation candidates and the encoder and the decoder may derive themotion information of the current block based on the motion informationcandidates. Herein, the motion information candidates mean theprediction motion vector candidates in the case of the AMVP mode and themerge candidates in the case of the merge mode. However, all the blocks(the reconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the col block) used toderive the motion information candidates may not have the motioninformation and therefore, in this case, the inter prediction apparatusfor deriving or setting the motion information of the current block maybe provided.

Hereinafter, in connection with the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 26, thefirst reference picture within the L0 reference picture list is referredto as the L0 reference picture and the first reference picture withinthe L1 reference picture list is referred to as the L1 referencepicture.

Referring to FIG. 26, the determination unit 2610 receives the picturetype information, the L0 reference picture, and the L1 reference pictureand then, may determine whether the picture type of the current pictureis the B picture and the L0 reference picture and the L1 referencepicture are the same. The inter prediction apparatus may perform theunidirectional motion information setting by the unidirectional motioninformation setting unit 2620, the first bidirectional motioninformation setting by the first bidirectional motion informationsetting unit 2630, or the second bidirectional motion informationsetting by the second bidirectional motion information setting unit 2640according to the determination results.

In detail, when the current picture is not the B picture (for example,when the current picture is the P picture), the unidirectional motioninformation setting may be performed. In addition, when the currentpicture is the B picture, the determination unit 2610 may determinewhether the L0 reference picture and the L1 reference picture are thesame. In this case, when the L0 reference picture and the L1 referencepicture are not the same, the first bidirectional motion informationsetting may be performed and the L0 reference picture and the L1reference picture are the same, the second bidirectional motioninformation setting may be performed. Here, when the number of referencepictures included in the L1 reference picture list is 1 or less, theunidirectional motion information setting may also be performed.

The unidirectional motion information setting unit 2620 may set theprediction directions of the current block as the unidirectionalprediction. In addition, the unidirectional motion information settingunit 2620 may set the L0 reference picture index as 0 and the L0 motionvector as (0,0). The first bidirectional motion information setting unit2630 may set the prediction directions of the current block as thebidirectional prediction. In addition, the first bidirectional motioninformation setting unit 2630 may set the L0 reference picture index andthe L1 reference picture index as 0 and the L0 motion vector and the L1motion vector as (0,0). The second bidirectional motion informationsetting unit 2640 may set the prediction directions of the current blockas the bidirectional prediction. In addition, in this case, the secondbidirectional motion information setting unit 2640 may set the L0reference picture index as 0, the L1 reference picture index as 1, andthe L0 motion vector and the L1 motion vector as (0,0).

The exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 7 to 26 as described above mayindividually be applied, but may be combined and applied in variousmethods according to the encoding mode of each block. Hereinafter, inthe exemplary embodiments of the present invention to be describedbelow, the block in which the encoding mode is the merge mode isreferred to as the merge block. The block other than the merge block mayinclude a block in which the encoding mode is the AMVP mode, and thelike. In addition, in the exemplary embodiments of the present inventionto be described below, the current block may correspond to one of themerge block and the block other than the merge block in some cases.

As the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the mergecandidate determining method according to the exemplary embodiment ofFIG. 15 may be applied to the merge block and the inter predictionmethod according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7 or 8 may beapplied to the blocks other than the merge block. In this case, in themerge block, when the L0 motion information (the L0 reference picturenumber and the L0 motion vector) and the L1 motion information (the L1reference picture number and the L1 motion vector) of the referenceblock are the same, only the L0 motion information of the referenceblock may be used or registered as the merge candidate of the currentblock. In addition, in the blocks other than the merge block, when theL0 motion information (the reference picture number and the motionvectors) and the L1 motion information (the reference picture number andthe motion vectors) are the same, the unidirectional motion compensationprocess may be performed on the current block.

As another exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the temporalmotion information deriving method according to the exemplary embodimentof FIG. 19 may be applied to the merge block and the inter predictionmethod according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 7 or 8 may beapplied to the blocks other than the merge block. In this case, in themerge block, when the L0 reference picture number and the L1 referencepicture number are the same and the L0 motion vector and the L1 motionvector are the same, only the L0 temporal motion information may be usedas the temporal motion information of the current block. In addition, inthe blocks other than the merge block, when the L0 motion information(the reference picture number and the motion vectors) and the L1 motioninformation (the reference picture number and the motion vectors) arethe same, the unidirectional motion compensation process may beperformed on the current block.

As another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the temporalmotion information deriving method according to the exemplary embodimentof FIG. 19 and the motion information determining method according tothe exemplary embodiments of FIG. 23 may be applied to the merge blockand the inter prediction method according to the exemplary embodimentsof FIG. 10 may be applied to the blocks other than the merge block. Inthis case, in the merge block, when the L0 reference picture number andthe L1 reference picture number are the same and the L0 motion vectorand the L1 motion vector are the same, only the L0 temporal motioninformation may be used as the temporal motion information of thecurrent block. In addition, in the merge block, when all the blocks (thereconstructed neighboring blocks and/or the col block) used to derivethe merge candidates do not have the motion information, the motioninformation of the current block may be determined by the predeterminedmethod (for example, using the motion vector of (0,0)) described in FIG.23. In addition, in the blocks other than the merge block, when the L0motion information (the reference picture number and the motion vectors)and the L1 motion information (the reference picture number and themotion vectors) are the same, only the L0 motion information may be usedad the motion information of the current block.

As another exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the temporalmotion information deriving method according to the exemplary embodimentof FIG. 17 may be applied to the merge block and the inter predictionmethod according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 10 may be appliedto the blocks other than the merge block. In this case, the temporalmotion information deriving method for deriving the temporal motioninformation of the current block may be applied to the merge blockaccording to the list information described in FIG. 17. Here, the listinformation may mean the information indicating whether the L0 motioninformation and/or the L1 motion information are present in the colblock. In addition, in the blocks other than the merge block, when theL0 motion information (the reference picture number and the motionvectors) and the L1 motion information (the reference picture number andthe motion vectors) are the same, only the L0 motion information may beused ad the motion information of the current block.

As another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the temporalmotion information deriving method according to the exemplary embodimentof FIG. 21 and the motion information determining method according tothe exemplary embodiments of FIG. 23 may be applied to the merge blockand the inter prediction method according to the exemplary embodimentsof FIG. 7 may be applied to the blocks other than the merge block. Inthis case, in the merge block, when the current block is a block withinthe forward B picture and/or the forward B slice, the col picture usedto derive the temporal motion information may be determined according towhether the currently derived temporal motion information is the L0temporal motion information or the L1 temporal motion information. Inaddition, in the merge block, when all the blocks (the reconstructedneighboring blocks and/or the col block) used to derive the mergecandidates do not have the motion information, the motion information ofthe current block may be determined by the predetermined method (forexample, using the motion vector of (0,0)) described in FIG. 23. Inaddition, in the blocks other than the merge block, when the L0 motioninformation (the reference picture number and the motion vectors) andthe L1 motion information (the reference picture number and the motionvectors) are the same, the unidirectional motion compensation processmay be performed on the current block.

As another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the temporalmotion information deriving method according to the exemplary embodimentof FIG. 21 and the motion information determining method according tothe exemplary embodiments of FIG. 25 are applied to the merge block andthe inter prediction method according to the exemplary embodiments ofFIG. 10 may be applied to the blocks other than the merge block. In thiscase, in the merge block, when the current block is a block within theforward B picture and/or the forward B slice, the col picture used toderive the temporal motion information may be determined according towhether the currently derived temporal motion information is the L0temporal motion information or the L1 temporal motion information. Inaddition, in the merge block, when all the blocks (the reconstructedneighboring blocks and/or the col block) used to derive the mergecandidates do not have the motion information, the motion information ofthe current block may be determined by the predetermined method (forexample, using the motion vector of (0,0) of the forward B pictureand/or the forward B slice) described in FIG. 25. In addition, in theblocks other than the merge block, when the L0 motion information (thereference picture number and the motion vectors) and the L1 motioninformation (the reference picture number and the motion vectors) arethe same, only the L0 motion information may be used ad the motioninformation of the current block.

The combinations of the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 7 to 26 are notlimited to the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments but theabove-mentioned exemplary embodiments of the present invention andvarious types of combinations may be provided as needed.

According to the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention, it is possible to reduce the calculation complexity in themotion compensation process and improve the encoding/decodingefficiency.

In the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments, although the methods havedescribed based on a flow chart as a series of steps or blocks, thepresent invention is not limited to a sequence of steps but any step maybe generated in a different sequence or simultaneously from or withother steps as described above. Further, it may be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that steps shown in a flow chart is non-exclusive andtherefore, include other steps or deletes one or more steps of a flowchart without having an effect on the scope of the present invention.

The above-mentioned embodiments include examples of various aspects.Although all possible combinations showing various aspects are notdescribed, it may be appreciated by those skilled in the art that othercombinations may be made. Therefore, the present invention should beconstrued as including all other substitutions, alterations andmodifications belong to the following claims.

1. A method for decoding a video signal, the method comprising:generating a merge candidate list of the current block by usingneighboring blocks adjacent to the current block, each of theneighboring blocks having motion information; deriving, based on a mergeindex, motion information of a current block from the merge candidatelist, the merge index specifying a merge candidate included in the mergecandidate list; generating a prediction block for the current blockbased on the derived motion information; obtaining a residual block forthe current block by decoding the input bitstream; generating areconstruction block for the current block by adding the residual blockto the prediction block; and applying in-loop filter on thereconstruction block, wherein the in-loop filter is at least one of adeblocking filter and an SAO (Sample Adaptive Offset) filter, whereinthe derived motion information includes prediction direction informationand both of L0 motion information and L1 motion information, wherein,when the prediction direction information of the current block indicatesa bi-prediction and a size of the current block is smaller than apre-determined size, the prediction direction information indicating thebi-prediction is changed to indicate a uni-prediction and the predictionblock of the current block is generated by performing motioncompensation based on only the L0 motion information among the L0 motioninformation and the L1 motion information, wherein, when the predictiondirection information indicates the bi-prediction and the size of thecurrent block is equal to or greater than the pre-determined size, theprediction direction information indicating the bi-prediction is notchanged to indicate the uni-prediction and the prediction block of thecurrent block is generated by performing the motion compensation basedon both the L0 motion information and the L1 motion information, andwherein the pre-determined size is representative of one of 8×8, 16×16,or 32×32.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the L0 motion informationincludes an L0 motion vector and an L0 reference picture number, the L0reference picture number is a number assigned to an L0 reference pictureaccording to a picture order count (POC) order, the L1 motioninformation includes an L1 motion vector and an L1 reference picturenumber, and the L1 reference picture number is a number assigned to anL1 reference picture according to the POC order.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein generating the prediction block comprising: generating an L0motion compensated block by performing L0 motion compensation on thecurrent block based on the L0 motion information; generating an L1motion compensated block by performing L1 motion compensation on thecurrent block based on the L1 motion information; and generating theprediction block by performing a weighting average on the L0 motioncompensated block and the L1 motion compensated block.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: determining whether default weightingprediction is applied to the current block or non-default weightingprediction is applied thereto, wherein the prediction block is generatedby performing one of the default weighting prediction and thenon-default weighting prediction according to the determination result.5. The method of claim 4, wherein whether the default weightingprediction is applied to the current block or the non-default weightingprediction is applied thereto is indicated by a weighting predictionindex.
 6. A method for encoding a video signal, the method comprising:generating a merge candidate list of the current block by usingneighboring blocks adjacent to the current block, each of theneighboring blocks having motion information; deriving, based on a mergeindex, motion information of a current block from the merge candidatelist, the merge index specifying a merge candidate included in the mergecandidate list; generating a prediction block for the current blockbased on the derived motion information; obtaining a residual block forthe current block; generating a reconstruction block for the currentblock by adding the residual block to the prediction block; and applyinginloop filter on the reconstruction block, wherein the in-loop filter isat least one of a deblocking filter and an SAO (Sample Adaptive Offset)filter, wherein the derived motion information includes predictiondirection information and both of L0 motion information and L1 motioninformation, wherein, when the prediction direction information of thecurrent block indicates a bi-prediction and a size of the current blockis smaller than a pre-determined size, the prediction directioninformation indicating the bi-prediction is changed to indicate auni-prediction and the prediction block of the current block isgenerated by performing motion compensation based on only the L0 motioninformation among the L0 motion information and the L1 motioninformation, wherein, when the prediction direction informationindicates the bi-prediction and the size of the current block is equalto or greater than the pre-determined size, the prediction directioninformation indicating the bi-prediction is not changed to indicate theuni-prediction and the prediction block of the current block isgenerated by performing the motion compensation based on both the L0motion information and the L1 motion information, and wherein thepre-determined size is representative of one of 8×8, 16×16, or 32×32. 7.The method of claim 6, wherein the L0 motion information includes an L0motion vector and an L0 reference picture number, the L0 referencepicture number is a number assigned to an L0 reference picture accordingto a picture order count (POC) order, the L1 motion information includesan L1 motion vector and an L1 reference picture number, and the L1reference picture number is a number assigned to an L1 reference pictureaccording to the POC order.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein generatingthe prediction block comprising: generating an L0 motion compensatedblock by performing L0 motion compensation on the current block based onthe L0 motion information; generating an L1 motion compensated block byperforming L1 motion compensation on the current block based on the L1motion information; and generating the prediction block by performing aweighting average on the L0 motion compensated block and the L1 motioncompensated block.
 9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:determining whether default weighting prediction is applied to thecurrent block or non-default weighting prediction is applied thereto,wherein the prediction block is generated by performing one of thedefault weighting prediction and the non-default weighting predictionaccording to the determination result.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein whether the default weighting prediction is applied to thecurrent block or the non-default weighting prediction is applied theretois indicated by a weighting prediction index.